title: Aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen and matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 failed to serve as serum markers for abdominal aortic aneurysm.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Matrix-metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 and aminoterminal propeptide of type III collagen (NIIINP) have been reported to be elevated in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The aim of our study was to test NIIINP, MMP-2 and -9 as potential serum markers for AAA in a large population group at risk for AAA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-five to 70 year old men were screened for AAA by abdominal ultrasound. Simultaneously, blood samples were taken and the patients were interviewed for known risk factors for AAA. Patients with a dilatation of the infrarenal aorta of > or =25mm (Group 1, n=76) were compared to randomly assigned patients with normal aortic diameters (Group 2, n=83). A third group consisted of patients scheduled for operation of AAA (n=19).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 987 men were investigated with ultrasound. Seventy-six (7.7%) had an aortic dilatation > or =25mm. Aortic dilatation was correlated with age (P=0.0001). However, serum levels of NIIINP and MMP 2 were not different between the three groups of patients. For MMP-9 there was a weak inverse correlation with lower serum levels in patients with aortic dilatation (P=0.043).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both MMP-2 and -9 and NIIINP failed to show relevance as serum markers for aortic dilatation. Our results are, therefore, in contradiction to previous published results. AAAs cannot be diagnosed with a simple blood test.
authors.affiliation: University Vascular Center Aarau/Basel, University Hospital, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland. teugster@uhbs.ch
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eugster
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Obeid
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schwegler
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gürke
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stierli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D024061:Collagen Type III / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 / Q000097:blood*; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011347:Procollagen / Q000097:blood*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D024061:Collagen Type III; D011347:Procollagen; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9