The Association Between Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 A-181g Polymorphism and the Risk of Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis in Iranian Kurdish Patients From Kermanshah

Backgroundmultiple sclerosis (ms) is a common chronic genetic disease of the central nervous system. the relapsing-remitting-ms (rr-ms) is the most common form of this disease. matrix metalloproteinase-7 (mmp-7) is an important member of the mmp family, which degrades many extracellular matrix components. the common polymorphism of mmp-7 a-181g is associated with some diseases. objectivesthe aim of the present study was to determine the influence of this polymorphism on the risk of rr-ms. materials and methodseighty rr-ms patients and 80 healthy individuals as controls from the kermanshah province were studied for mmp-7 a-181g polymorphism by using the pcr-rflp method. data were analyzed using the spss statistical software package version 16.0.resultsin rr-ms patients the frequency of mmp-7 gg genotype was significantly (p = 0.028) higher compared to that of the controls. the presence of gg genotype increased the risk of rr-ms by 1.69 times [or = 1.69 and 95% ci = 1.05- 2.72, p = 0.03]. the frequency of mmp-7 g allele in rr-ms patients was significantly higher (51.2%, p = 0.043) than that of the controls (40%). the presence of this allele increased the risk of rr-ms by 1.58 folds (p = 0.044).conclusionsour findings indicate that the presence of g allele of mmp-7 a-181g polymorphism might increase the risk of rr-ms in our population.