Acute exacerbations of COPD are associated with significant activation of matrix metalloproteinase 9 irrespectively of airway obstruction, emphysema and infection

Table 4 Descriptive statistics for the concentration of MMPs and TIMPs in BAL of COPD patients

Parameter	COPDstatus	Mean	SEM	SDEV	Median	Min	Max	p value
MMP-2 (ng/ml BAL)	AE	4.34	1.41	8.68	1.16	0.01	48.44	0.055
	stable	3.25	2.06	13.50	0.36	0.01	88.33	0.055
MMP-9 (ng/ml BAL)	AE	670.13	193.04	1,189.97	206.55	0.01	6,158.33	0.012
	stable	284.51	74.49	488.48	88.59	0.80	2,331.00	0.012
MMP-12 (ng/ml BAL)	AE	209.44	56.39	347.64	79.37	0.52	1,415.38	0.114
	stable	111.73	28.39	186.17	44.53	2.57	910.00	0.114
TIMP-1 (ng/ml BAL)	AE	86.77	19.21	118.43	35.66	0.01	476.25	0.028
	stable	49.23	9.59	62.88	25.00	0.01	246.15	0.028
TIMP-2 (ng/ml BAL)	AE	22.69	6.60	40.70	5.47	0.01	206.04	0.030
	stable	6.23	1.33	8.71	2.67	0.01	43.64	0.030
MMP-2/TIMP-2 (molar ratio)	AE	0.85	0.38	2.37	0.078	0.00	12.90	0.791
	stable	2.66	2.05	13.43	0.081	0.00	88.32	0.791
MMP-9/TIMP-1 (molar ratio)	AE	12.01	2.84	17.49	5.18	0.00	71.48	0.284
	stable	13.88	4.09	26.81	4.45	0.06	135.30	0.284

AE acute exacerbation, SEM standard error of the mean, SDEV standard deviation, Min lower value, Max higher value, MMP matrix metalloproteinase, TIMP tissue inhibitor of MMP

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