Matrix metalloproteinases and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases in sera and tissue of patients with Dupuytren's disease.

Dupuytren's contracture is a fibroproliferative disorder characterized by progressive deposition of mature collagen fibers. In other fibrotic diseases affecting organs such as the liver, lung, heart, and skin, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their natural inhibitors, the tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), play an important role. In this study, serum concentrations of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 were determined in 22 patients (five women and 17 men; average age, 67 +/- 11 years) with Dupuytren's disease using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.