The proteolytic system of MMPs and TIMPs may play an essential role in vascular remodeling and atherosclerosis, but the data concerning such influence in the patients on chronic hemodialysis are scarce. The aim of the study was to assess the concentrations of selected MMPs and their inhibitors in the patients hemodialyzed on the polysulfone membranes.
Material and methods: 11 children and young adults on chronic HD were enrolled in the study, 15 age-matched subjects with normal kidney function served as controls. The serum concentrations of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were assessed by ELISA.
Results: The median values of all MMPs and TIMPs were elevated in patients before HD vs. controls (p<0.0001) and decreased after a single HD session (p<0.01), yet remained higher than in the control group (p<0.001). The MMP-2/TIMP-2 ratio was decreased vs. controls both before and after a HD session (p<0.0001). Contrarily, the MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio before HD was higher than in controls (p<0.05), but after HD dropped to the values lower than those in the control subjects (p<0.01).
Conclusions: The increased concentrations of all parameters may indicate the proteolytic overactivity in the examined population. A single polysulfone HD session tends to deepen the MMPs/TIMPs dysfunction, although this impact seems transient.