High Levels of 17β-Estradiol Are Associated with Increased Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 and Metalloproteinase-9 Activity in Tears of Postmenopausal Women with Dry Eye

Table 3

Spearman correlation of sex steroid levels with tear MMP concentrations and clinical tests.

Parameters	MMP-2		MMP-9		OSDI		TBUT		Corneal staining		Schirmer test
	ρ	P	ρ	P	ρ	P	ρ	P	ρ	P	ρ	P
17β-Estradiol	0.67	0.006	0.58	0.03	−0.07	0.80	−0.38	0.17	−0.09	0.74	−0.58	0.02
Testosterone	0.28	0.12	0.21	0.24	0.14	0.41	−0.32	0.04	0.17	0.28	0.02	0.91
DHEA-S	0.004	0.98	0.16	0.38	0.31	0.06	−0.09	0.58	−0.16	0.32	−0.05	0.75
Progesterone	0.07	0.72	0.06	0.77	0.24	0.16	−0.15	0.34	−0.10	0.56	0.02	0.90

DHEA-S = dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, MMP = matrix metalloproteinase, OSDI = Ocular Surface Disease Index, and TBUT = tear film break-up time.
Significant difference with < 0.05
ρ: Spearman’s correlation coefficient.