Expression variations and clinical significance of MMP-1, MMP-2 and inflammatory factors in serum of patients with deep venous thrombosis of lower extremity

Expression levels and clinical significance of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1), MMP-2 and inflammatory factors in the serum of patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of lower extremity were investigated. Fifty untreated DVT patients were selected as the DVT group, and 50 patients undergoing health examination were enrolled as the normal control group. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine the levels of MMP-1, MMP-2, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the serum. Western blotting was adopted to detect the expression levels of MMP-1 and MMP-2 proteins. Fluorescent reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was applied to examine the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression levels. Moreover, the circumferences of the patients were measured. The difference between the circumference of affected extremity and unaffected extremity was calculated. Correlation analysis was conducted separately for the levels of serum MMP-1, MMP-2, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α of patients in the DVT group. In the DVT group, the levels of MMP-1, MMP-2, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α at 7 days after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment (P<0.01). Compared with that before treatment, the circumference difference of the affected and unaffected extremities of the patients was reduced at 7 days after treatment (P<0.01). The levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α were positively correlated with the levels of MMP-1 and MMP-2, respectively in the DVT group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). MMP-1, MMP-2 and inflammatory factors play an important role in the occurrence and development of DVT, of which the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α are positively correlated with the levels of MMP-1 and MMP-2, respectively. Therefore, monitoring the concentration of MMP-1, MMP-2 and inflammatory factors is of significant value for the diagnosis, progression and judgement of treatment effect of DVT in clinical practice.