Trentini A, Manfrinato MC, Castellazzi M, Bellini T. Sex-Related Differences of Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMPs): New Perspectives for These Biomarkers in Cardiovascular and Neurological Diseases.
J Pers Med 2022;
12:jpm12081196. [PMID:
35893290 PMCID:
PMC9331234 DOI:
10.3390/jpm12081196]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
It is now established that sex differences occur in clinical manifestation, disease progression, and prognosis for both cardiovascular (CVDs) and central nervous system (CNS) disorders. As such, a great deal of effort is now being put into understanding these differences and turning them into “advantages”: (a) for the discovery of new sex-specific biomarkers and (b) through a review of old biomarkers from the perspective of the “newly” discovered sex/gender medicine. This is also true for matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), enzymes involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling, which play a role in both CVDs and CNS disorders. However, most of the studies conducted up to now relegated sex to a mere confounding variable used for statistical model correction rather than a determining factor that can influence MMP levels and, in turn, disease prognosis. Consistently, this approach causes a loss of information that might help clinicians in identifying novel patterns and improve the applicability of MMPs in clinical practice by providing sex-specific threshold values. In this scenario, the current review aims to gather the available knowledge on sex-related differences in MMPs levels in CVDs and CNS conditions, hoping to shed light on their use as sex-specific biomarkers of disease prognosis or progression.
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