Evaluation of MMP-1, MMP-8, MMP-9 serum levels in patients with adrenal tumors prier to and after surgery

The aim of the study is to evaluate MMP-1, MMP-8 and MMP-9 serum levels in patients with adrenal tumors prior to and after surgery. Metslloproteinase-l (MMP-1), MMP-8 and MMP-9 serum levels were evaluated in 43 patients operated on at our clinic between 1997-1999. Forty-one (95.3%) patients underwent adrenalectomy. Two (4.7%) patients were disqualified fr om surgery due to infiltration of adjacent tissues. MMP-1, MMP-8 and MMP-9 serum levels were determined at the admission and in case of surgery again one month after the operation. ELISA assay (K&D) was applied. Tumor type wa s determined on the basis of clinical, hormonal and histopathological exami nation. The correlation between MMP levels and tumor sizes was also evaluat ed. Patients were divided into 6 groups. Group I included II patients with adrenocortical carcinoma (4 with Gushing's syndrome and 7 with incidentalom as); group II - 6 patients with benign hormonally active adrenocortical ade noma (4 with Gushing's syndrome and 2 with Conn's syndrome); group III - pa tients with benign, hormonally inactive adenocortical adenoma; group TV - 6 patients with benign, hormonally active phaeochromocytoma; group V - 4 pat ients with hormonally inactive phaeochromocytoma; group VI - 5 patients wit h hormonally inactive adrenal tumors of extraglandular origin (2 myolipomas , 2 fibrolipomas, 1 hammartoma). The control group comprised 10 healthy ind ividuals. Increased MMP-8 and MMP-9 levels were noted in patients with benign and mal ignant adrenal tumors. No increase of MMP levels was found in patients with tumors of extraglandular origin. The increased MMP-8 and MMP-9 levels occu rred most frequently in patients with adrenocortical and hormonally active adrenomedullar cancer, and most rarely in patients with hormonally active a drenocortical tumors. MMP-8 and MMP-9 serum levels did not significantly di ffer between patients with adrenocortical incidentaloma cancers and in pati ents with benign incidentalomas. MMP-8 and MMP-9 levels were not increased in patients with inoperable adrenocortical cancers. Serum MMP-1 levels were not increased in patients with benign and malignant adrenal tumors. After surgery, MMP-8 and MMP-9 levels decreased significantly in patients w ith adrenocortical cancers, whereas the decrease of these MMPs in patients with benign tumors, although noticeable, was not statistically significant. MMP-8 and MMP-9 levels decreased significantly in all patients with increa sed preoperative levels, although they remained higher than the maximum nor mal values only in few patients tin 7 and 2 patients, respectively). No cor relation between the levels of evaluated MMPs and tumor sizes were found.