Serum profiles of matrix metalloproteinases and their tissue inhibitor in patients with acute coronary syndromes. The effects of short-term atorvastatin administration

Abstract There is increasing evidence that abnormal cytokine expression and increased metalloproteinase activity are implicated in the pathophysiology of acute coronary syndromes. This study investigates the serum profiles of representative metalloproteinases (MMP-1, -2, -9) and their tissue inhibitor (TIMP-1) in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and unstable angina (UA) in relation to circulating proinflammatory cytokine (TNF-α and IL-6) activity. Furthermore, we examined the effects of a 30-day treatment with atorvastatin on serum levels of these inflammatory factors. Serum concentrations of MMP-1, -2, -9, TIMP-1, IL-6 and TNF-α were measured (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method) in 23 acute myocardial infarction patients and 20 unstable angina patients on 0 day, 1st, 3rd, 7th and 30th day after admission. Sixteen normal volunteers were used as healthy controls. Additionally, 12 patients of myocardial infarction group and 11 patients of unstable angina group were treated with atorvastatin (20 mg/day) for 30 days in a randomized design. In patients with myocardial infarction and unstable angina, serum levels of MMP-2, -9, TIMP-1, TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly higher than those of healthy controls in all time frames ( p