Chinese Journal of Dermatology ›› 2004, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (12): 703-705.

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Detection of Serum HGF and MMP-9 and Its Clinical Significance in Pat ients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

LIU Yang1, ZHENG Min2, YIN Wen-hao2, BAO Zhang2   

  1. Department of Rheumatology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, College of Medical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310009, China
  • Received:2003-12-29 Online:2004-12-15 Published:2004-12-15

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Abstract: Objectives To explore the relationship between serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and the disease activity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and study the mechanisms of these two factors in the pathogenesis of SLE.Methods The serum levels of HGF and MMP-9 were measured by ELISA.The growth curve of normal ECV304 cell line was obtained, and the action concentration of recombinant human hepatocyte growth factor (rhHGF) was determined.MMP-9 expression level in cells was detected by flow cytometric analysis.Results The serum level of HGF increased significantly in SLE patients as compared with that in healthy controls (P<0.001), but the serum level of MMP-9 decreased significantly (P<0.001).The serum level of HGF decreased after treatment (P<0.05), but MMP-9 increased (P<0.05).The serum level of HGF was higher in patients with active disease than that in patients with inactive disease (P<0.05), but MMP-9 was lower (P<0.05).The serum level of HGF increased in patients with renal damage as compared with those without renal damage (P<0.001), but the serum level of MMP-9 decreased (P<0.05).The serum level of HGF was higher in patients with arthritis than those without (P<0.01), but MMP-9 serum level had no significant difference in these two groups (P>0.05).The area of ROC curve was 0.707 and the sensitivity was 66.7% when using the serum level of HGF as diagnostic standard.The area under ROC curve was 0.984 and the sensitivity was 97.2% when using the serum level of MMP-9 as diagnostic standard.The sensitivity was 66.7% (24/36) when two markers (HGF and MMP-9) were examined simultaneously.Additionally, the action concentrati on of rhHGF was 8 ng/mL, and the expression level of MMP-9 was 39.74% in normal ECV304 cells and increased to 40.32% after rhHGF stimulation.Conclusions It is suggested that HGF and MMP-9 may be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE, and s erum levels of HGF and MMP-9 might be used as markers for monitoring the disease activity, renal damage, disease progression and improvement in SLE.The sensitivity might be higher when serum level of MMP-9 is used as diagnostic standard, and rhHGF can enhance MMP-9 expression in ECV304 cell line.

Key words: Lupus erythematosus,systemic, Hepatocyte growth factor, Gelatinase B