Functional variants of metalloproteinase MMP 1 and MMP 7 genes have no relationship to the severity of portal hypertension in patients with cirrhosis

Objective: Cirrhosis is a final stage of chronic liver disease. High morbidity and mortality are mostly related to complications of portal hypertension. Remodelling of liver fibrotic tissue by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is a permanent process leading to cirrhotic scar formation. The aim was to study the significance of functional metalloproteinase MMP-1 and MMP-7 gene variants in cirrhotic patients and their relationship to portal hypertension. Patients and Methods: 179 patients with liver cirrhosis (mean age 55.2±11.6 years) were examined for functional variants of MMP-1 (-A; rs1799750 ) and MMP-7 (G/A; rs17884789 ) genes. Measurement of hepatic venous pressure gradient, laboratory and ultrasound examination were performed in all patients. Literary data from healthy population were used for comparison of allele frequencies with our cirrhotic patients. Results: The frequency of rs1799750 (1G-1G 25%, 1G-2G 56%, 2G-2G 22%) genotypes in cirrhotic patients does not differ from the healthy population (p>0.05). In MMP-7 gene, one genotype (wild type GG) was found in our patients uniformly for rs17884789 variant. No relationship was found between the frequency of examined genotypes and either the severity of portal hypertension or Child-Pugh or MELD score. Conclusions: Functional variants of MMP-1 and MMP-7 have no relationship to portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis.