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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Establishment and Evaluation of a Porcine Vein Graft Disease Model
Published on: July 25, 2022
Serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 and venous bypass graft occlusion
A Kalela1, V Limnell, J Aittoniemi
1Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Tampere Medical School, FIN-33014 Tampere, Finland.
Insights
Elevated serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 levels indicate vein graft occlusion in patients without prior myocardial infarction. This finding may help identify at-risk individuals after coronary artery bypass grafting.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Surgery
- Biomarkers
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) outcomes are good, but early graft occlusion remains a clinical challenge.
- The exact causes of early graft occlusion, including thrombosis and fibrointimal hyperplasia, are not fully understood.
- Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has been implicated in graft occlusion in experimental settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if serum MMP-9 levels correlate with vein graft occlusion after CABG.
- To determine if MMP-9 plays a role in the pathophysiology of graft occlusion.
Main Methods:
- Serum MMP-9 levels were measured in 61 asymptomatic men who underwent CABG.
- The study population was divided into two groups: those with and without a history of myocardial infarction (MI).
- Graft patency was assessed, and serum MMP-9 levels were compared between patients with and without graft occlusion.
Main Results:
- In patients without a history of MI, serum MMP-9 levels were significantly higher in those with graft occlusion (54.0 ± 11.0 µg/L) compared to those without occlusion (41.7 ± 10.4 µg/L; p = 0.006).
- A positive correlation was observed between serum MMP-9 levels and the number of occluded grafts (R = 0.55, p = 0.001) in the non-MI group.
- This association between MMP-9 and graft occlusion was not detected in patients with a history of MI.
Conclusions:
- Serum MMP-9 levels are a potential biomarker for vein graft occlusion in patients undergoing CABG who have no prior history of myocardial infarction.
- These findings suggest a role for MMP-9 in the development of vein graft occlusion in this specific patient subgroup.
Objective:
The primary results after coronary artery bypass grafting are good, but early clinical events as a result of graft occlusion are still a problem. Early occlusions are thought to be due to thrombosis or fibrointimal hyperplasia superimposed by thrombosis, but the etiology of these phenomena is not fully understood. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 has been suggested to have a role in graft occlusion ex vivo.
Material And Methods:
We investigated whether the level of serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 reflects its proposed role in occlusion of vein grafts. The study population consisted of 30 men with a history of myocardial infarction and 31 men without myocardial infarction who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting. All the men were asymptomatic.
Results:
Among the patients with no previous myocardial infarction, serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 level was significantly higher in those with graft occlusion than in those without occlusion (54.0+/-11.0 microg/L and 41.7+/-10.4 microg/L, respectively, p = 0.006), and it correlated positively with the number of occluded grafts (R = 0.55, p = 0.001). In the patients with myocardial infarction, this effect was not detected.
Conclusions:
Serum matrix metalloproteinase-9 reflected the occurrence of vein graft occlusion in subjects with no previous history of myocardial infarction.
