| Summary: | 碩士 === 中山醫學大學 === 生化暨生物科技研究所 === 93 === Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, which involves primarily the peripheral joints. It has been reported that the progressive damage of the articular cartilage is associated with the presence of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). The clinical symptoms, serologic findings, therapeutic response and prognosis in elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA) are different from those in younger onset rheumatoid arthritis (YORA). The aim of this study is to determine the differences of serum and synovial level of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) between EORA and YORA patients using enzyme link immunoassay and immunodiffusion. The levels of MMPs were also compared with those of C-reactive protein, rheumatoid factor and cyclic ctrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies. We found that the synovial levels of MMP-1, -2, -3, -9 and -13 were similar between EORA and YORA, however, the level of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) was significantly higher in EORA group (p=0.031). The serum levels of MMP-1, -3, -9, -13 and TIMP-1 showed no difference from the two groups but MMP-2 was drastically higher in EORA group (p=0.015). The serum level of CCP antibodies was slightly correlated with that of MMP-2 (r2= 0.511, p=0.021) in EORA group and correlated with MMP-1 (r2=0.56, p=0.01) in YORA group. We concluded that the expression of synovial and serum level of MMPs were different between EORA and YORA groups. Further studies are needed to elucidate whether it plays a role in mechanism with regard to the distinct clinical symptoms between the two groups of rheumatoid arthritis.
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