Matrix metalloproteinase-3 in myasthenia gravis compared to other neurological disorders and healthy controls

Abstract

MMP-3 is capable of degrading a variety of proteins, including agrin, which plays a critical role in neuromuscular signaling by controlling acetylcholine receptor clustering. High MMP-3 levels in a proportion of myasthenia gravis (MG) patients have been reported. A pathogenic role of MMP-3 in other neurological disorders has been suggested but not proven. We have therefore examined the levels of MMP-3 in 124 MG patients and compared them to 59 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, 74 epilepsy patients, 33 acute stroke patients, and 90 healthy controls. 15.3 of the patients in the MG group were MMP-3-positive (defined as higher than cutoff value 48ng/mL) with very high mean MMP-3 concentration (79.9ng/mL), whereas the proportion of MMP-3 positive patients in the MS (3.4), epilepsy (6.7), stroke (0), and the control group (4.4) was significantly lower. Mean MMP-3 concentration in the total MG group (25.5ng/mL) was significantly higher than in the MS (16.6ng/mL) and stroke (11.7ng/mL) groups, but did not differ significantly from the epilepsy (19.4ng/mL) and the control group (23.4ng/mL). MMP-3 may have a specific pathogenic effect in MG in addition to being associated with autoimmune diseases in general. © Copyright 2011 Steven P. Luckman et al.