Urinary MMP-7: A Predictive, Noninvasive Early Marker for Chronic Kidney Disease Development in Patients with Hypertension

Abstract

Objective: Upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) is associated with hypertension and kidney fibrosis, which can progress to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Currently, kidney fibrosis is only detectable by an invasive procedure. Therefore, we set out to determine whether MMP-7 can act as a noninvasive biomarker in patients with hypertension to enable early detection of kidney fibrosis.

Materials and methods: Diagnosed patients with hypertension and control patients were sampled. We diagnosed CKD using clinical and laboratory parameters. Serum urea, creatinine, urinary microalbumin, the albumin-to-creatinine ratio, and urinary MMP-7 were analyzed.

Results: The 195 patients with hypertension had significantly elevated MMP-7. Of these patients, 166 had MMP-7 >25.8 μg/L, whereas only 29 had MMP-7 <25.8 μg/L. Thirty-two patients with hypertension showed features of CKD, all of whom had urinary MMP-7 >25.8 μg/L. However, the urinary MMP-7 level did not differ with the severity of CKD or with the duration of hypertension.

Conclusion: Elevated urinary MMP-7 can be a potential noninvasive, early indicator in patients with hypertension progressing to CKD, thus enabling early therapeutic intervention.

Keywords: ACR; MMP-7; biomarker; chronic kidney disease; eGFR; fibrosis; hypertension.