Genetic variants of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP2) gene influence metabolic syndrome susceptibility.

Aim: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are suggested to be involved in the development of various clinical factors of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Allelic variants in the promoter region of the MMP2 gene may modulate an individual's susceptibility to MetS. We performed this study to determine whether single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) -1575 (G>A) and -168 (G>T) of the MMP2 gene are associated with MetS risk.

Methods: In this hospital-based case-control study, 180 confirmed MetS patients and 190 unrelated healthy controls of similar ethnicity were genotyped for MMP2 (-1575 G>A, -168 G>T) polymorphisms using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Results: Variant genotype (AA) of -1575 showed increased risk (odds ratio [OR]=2.72, 95% confidence intervals [CI]=1.19-6.23, p=0.018) of MetS as compared to the wild-type homozygous genotype (GG). Similarly, the variant allele (A) (OR=1.60, 95%CI=1.12-2.26, p=0.009) and combined genotype (GA+AA) (OR=1.51, 95%CI=0.98-2.31, p=0.057) were also significantly associated with MetS risk. High risk of MetS was observed with respect to the haplotype (A-T) (OR=1.83, 95%CI=1.03-3.26, p=0.038) of MMP2 (-1575 and -168) polymorphisms. However, MMP2 (-168 G>T) polymorphism individually did not show any risk with MetS.

Conclusions: Our results strongly support the notion that common sequence variants and haplotype of MMP2 (-1575 G>A and -168 G>T) might be a genetic risk for the development of MetS in the North Indian population. Additional studies on larger populations are needed to clarify the role of genetic variants of this gene in MetS.