Metalloproteinases as biomarkers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease progression

According to the World Health Organization, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is the third leading cause of death in 2020, accounting for approximately 6% of all deaths. Aim. We studied how matrix metalloproteinases affect the likelihood and severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods. The study included 60 patients aged 40 to 85 years with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (7 women and 53 men). The average age of the patients was 63.2 ± 8.3 years. The smoker index ranged from 10 to 118 pack/years. We divided all examined patients into two groups by the severity of the disease, by age, by the duration of the disease, and by the clinical forms. Results. Among the 60 examined patients, we did not identify a single patient with polymorphic variant C536T of TIMP-1 gene. All patients were homozygous and had the CC genotype. We found that only C-1562T polymorphism of MMP-9 gene is associated with severe COPD (p = 0.014), out of all studied variants of MMP-1, MMP-9, and MMP-12 genes. We did not find a reliable relationship between polymorphic variant C-1562T of MMP-9 gene and emphysematous changes in the lungs. We did not find a significant effect of polymorphic variants of MMP-1 and MMP-12 genes on the severity of COPD and the nature of structural changes in the lung tissue. As a result, we can assume that future studies should focus more on the relationship between the dominant pathogen and the level of matrix metalloproteinases. Understanding this relationship will allow us to influence the course and prognosis at an earlier stage of the disease. Our data on the leading role of polymorphism of MMP-1, MMP-9, and MMP-12 genes and other candidate genes are also confirmed by other recently published scientific papers. Conclusion. This study established the presence of genetic markers for a poor prognosis of COPD. Smokers and people subject to occupational hazards are most susceptible to these factors.