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MMP may play a role in glaucomatous optic neuropathy

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Patients with age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and proliferative diabetic retinopathy were shown to have a decreased profile of matrix metalloproteinase enzymes, according to a study.

In a study presented here at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, 48 patients with glaucoma were evaluated for 3 years. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes (MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-7, MMP-8, and MMP-9) were measured by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay. A decreased number of MMP-9 was found in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) than in patients with normal tension glaucoma (NTG). A high number of the same metalloproteinase was found in a control group of healthy patients.

There was increased activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in patients with NTG and an increased level of MMP-2 in the POAG and NTG groups. The increased levels suggest a possible role in the initiation and sustainment of glaucomatous optic neuropathy in some patients, reported J. Yang, MD, and colleagues.

MMP belongs to a family of enzymes that function to maintain and remodel tissue architecture. The enzymes are involved in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic neurodegenerative disorders, they said.