Abstract
Atherosclerosis as a main etiopathogenetic source for coronary artery disease (CAD) development is intimately related to dynamic changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Elevated levels of MMP-13 have been observed in human atherosclerotic plaques which could also involve variability in MMP-13 gene. The aim of the study was to associate rs640198 polymorphism with CAD and/or with its severity.The study comprised 1071 consecutive patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease (CAD), confirmed by coronary angiography.Genotyping for the rs640198 polymorphism in MMP-13 gene was performed using Taqman® assay. The TT and TG genotypes of rs640198 polymorphism in MMP-13 gene confer the significantly increased risk of triple vessel disease compared to patients without atherosclerotic lesions in coronary arteries (odds ratio = 1.64, Pcorr = 0.05). Furthermore, an increased risk of having 5 and more stenoses (odds ratio = 1.90, Pcorr = 0.004) was observed in TT and TG carriers (sensitivity of 0.613 and a specificity of 0.544; power of the test is 0.87).The T allele of MMP-13 intron polymorphism rs640198 is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease, represented by the number of affected arteries as well as by the number of stenoses confirmed by coronarography.