Gelatinase A (MM-2), gelatinase B (MMP-9) and their inhibitors (TIMP 1, TIMP-2) in serum of women with endometriosis: Significant correlation between MMP-2, MMP-9 and their inhibitors without difference in levels of matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in relation to the severity of endometriosis

Salata IM, Ireneusz M Salata, Ireneusz Salata, Nemanja Stojanović, Nemanja Stojanovic, Stojanovic N, Agata Cajdler-Łuba, Cajdler-Łuba A, Krzysztof Lewandowski, Krzysztof C Lewandowski, Andrzej Lewiñski, Andrzej Lewiński
Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology · 2008 · vol. 24(6) , pp. 326–330 · doi:10.1080/09513590802090325 · PMID:18584412 · W2150232968
Observational OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 15 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study found no difference in serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1, or TIMP-2 between mild and severe endometriosis but identified correlations between MMPs and their inhibitors, suggesting serum levels do not reflect disease severity.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Endometriosis is a highly prevalent gynecological condition, where the formation of endometriotic foci is linked with locally increased activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that raised serum levels of MMPs might reflect the severity of endometriosis. We compared serum levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9, and of their tissue inhibitors TIMP-1 and TIMP-2, in infertile women, matched for age and body mass index, with either mild (stage I, END-I; n = 15) or severe endometriosis (stage IV, END-IV; n = 22). There was no difference in the concentrations of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 between the analyzed groups. There was, however, a correlation between MMP-9 and TIMP-1 for the combined group (n = 37) (r = 0.48; p = 0.0032) and in women with END-IV (r = 0.51; p = 0.0163), as well as a highly significant correlation between MMP-2 and TIMP-2 for the combined group (r = 0.69; p = 0.0001), END-I (r = 0.51; p = 0.0406) and END-IV groups (r = 0.77; p = 0.0001). There was also a significant correlation between TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in the combined and END-IV groups (r = 0.39; p = 0.0182 and r = 0.5450; p = 0.0099, respectively). The balance between MMPs and their inhibitors is preserved in the serum of women with endometriosis, but serum concentrations of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 cannot be considered to represent a valid measure of the severity of endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Infertility, Female Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 Adult Adult Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Female Female Humans Humans Infertility, Female Infertility, Female

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (30)

Cited by (15)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-15T06:08:49.021275+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:05:28.665087+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK