association between serum vitamin d concentration status and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention

Cardiovascular diseases (cvd) have become increasingly life-threatening during recent decades. several studies have shown that matrix metalloproteinase-9 (mmp-9) plays an important role in the process of atherosclerosis and heart remodeling. on the other hand, vitamin d deficiency has been recognized as a risk factor for cvd. according to the prevalence of vitamin d deficiency in our country, iran, we aimed to evaluate the relationship between vitamin d status and the level of mmp-9 in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. in this prospective cross-sectional study, the patients who were candidates for elective coronary angioplasty were included. baseline serum mmp-9 and vitamin d levels were measured before intervention. the patients were categorized into three groups: vitamin d-severely deficient (≤ 10 ng/ml), vitamin d-moderately deficient (11-20 ng/ml), and vitamin d-insufficient/sufficient (> 21 ng/ml). totally, 150 patients were assessed. the analysis showed that serum mmp-9 levels were higher in patients with lower vitamin-d concentrations. a significant inverse correlation was found between mmp-9 concentration and 25 (oh) vitamin d level (p = 0.039). according to our results, it may be concluded that low levels of vitamin d may lead to more vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques and consequently more cardiovascular adverse effects in post-pci patients.