Serum matrix metalloproteilmse-2 level and its significance in patients with different stroke subtypes

Objective To investigate the change of serum matrix metalloproteinase-2 （MMP-2） level and its significance in patients with acute ischemic stroke of different subtypes. Methods Seventy-seven patients with acute ischemic stroke were classified into large-artery atherosclerosis （LAA） （n =29, 37.66% ）, small artery occlusion （SAO, lacunar infarction） （n = 23,29. 87%）, cardioembolism （CE） （n = 13,16.88%）, stroke of undemonstrated etiology （SUE） （n = 7, 9.09% ）, and stroke of other demonstrated etiology （SOE） （n = 5, 6.49% ） according to the TOAST criteria. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the levels of serum MMP-2 in patients with acute ischemic stroke at 24 hours and 7 days, and they were compared with 42 controls, Results The eserum MMP-2 levels at 24 hours and 7 days of the onset of symptoms in the acute ischemic stroke group according to the TOAST criteriawere 189.55 ±24.79 and 307.46 ±84.16 ng/ml respectively, and they were all significantly higher than 159.76 ± 10.32 ng/ml in the control group （all P 〈0.05）. Among all the TOAST subtypes, SOE and SUE were not analyzed because of the small numbers of cases; among other subtypes, the serum MMP-2 levels at 24 hours of the onset of symptoms in the LAA, SAO and CE groups were 218.60 ± 13.42,175.21±9.92, and 167.26 ±9.7 ng/ml respectively, and they were all significantly higher than those in the control group （all P 〈 0.05）; at day 7 of the onset of symptoms they were 404.75 ±10.30,293.18±10.91, and 211.81±11.14 ng/ml respectively, and they were also significantly higher than those in the control group （all P 〈 0.05）. Among those, the LAA group was increased significantly （P 〈 0.01）. Conclusions The serum MMP-2 levels were increased in patients with acute cerebral infarction, The changes of the serum MMP-2 levels in each TOAST subtype group were different, The LAA group increased most significantly, which supported the different views of the etiology of cerebral infarction subtypes, The serum MMP-2 plays an important role in the process of cerebral infarction of the LAA type. Key words: stroke;  etiology;  matrix metalloproteinase 2