Metalloproteinases 2 and 9 and their tissue inhibitors 1 and 2 are increased in vulvar lichen sclerosus.

Objectives: To evaluate the expression of different matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) in vulvar lichen sclerosus (LS), a chronic dermatosis in women, histologically characterized by a zone of collagen remodeling in the superior dermis.

Study Design: Analysis of the expression of different MMPs (MMP-1, -2, -9 and -13) and TIMPs (TIMP-1 and -2) by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in vulvar biopsies from patients with LS (n=11), classified according to Hewitt histological criteria and compared with clinically normal vulvar tissue (n=5), and the immunohistochemistry of MMP-2 and -9 and TIMP-1 and -2 distribution in the remodeling zone of LS (n=31) and in clinically normal vulvar tissue (n=28).

Results: Although no statistically significant difference between LS and normal skin groups at the mRNA level of MMP and TIMP transcripts was shown, an increase in the immunodistribution of MMP-2 and -9 and TIMP-1 and -2 in LS compared to normal vulvar skin was observed.

Conclusions: These results suggest that these molecules could be related to the process of cutaneous collagen remodeling in LS pathology.