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Published on: January 17, 2018
[Expression of MMPPs and TIMP and invasiveness in pituitary adenomas]
1Departnent of Neurosurgery, Second Affiated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical College, Guangzhou 510260, China. wangjianet@hotmail.com
Objective:
To detect the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 in pituitary tumors and to explore the relationship among the expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-2 and invasiveness of pituitary adenomas.
Methods:
The expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2 were determined in invasive pituitary adenomas (n=20) and non-invasive pituitary adenomas (n=10) by using immunohistochemical method and comparative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The correlation between expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9, TIMP-2 and tumor invasiveness were studied.
Results:
Compared with the non-invasive pituitary, expressions of MMP-9 significantly increased (P < 0.01). TIMP-2 expression decreased in invasive pituitary adenomas (P < 0.01). There was a reverse correlation between MMP-2 and TIMP-2 at mRNA level.
Conclusion:
Invasive pituitary tumors are related to the high expression of MMPs and low expression of TIMP-2, suggesting that the expression of MMA-9 and TIMP-2 can be used as an index of evaluating invasive pituitary tumors.