Evaluation of matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 activity in cerebrospinal fluid of dogs with non-inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 2 and 9 are enzymes involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation with specific proteolytic activity for type IV collagen and gelatin.MMPs participate in several physiological processes characterised by ECM remodelling and are implicated in various inflammatory, degenerative and neoplastic pathological conditions. The invasive and metastatic potential of several neoplastic lesions in the central nervous system (CNS) has been correlated with MMP expression; therefore, MMP assessment in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has gained an important diagnostic and prognostic role in human medicine (Friedberg et al., 1998).MMP2has been evidenced in the CSF of clinically normal dogs; nevertheless, MMP expression has not been evaluated in the CSF of dogs affected by pathological conditions of the CNS (Bergman et al., 2002). The aim of the present work was to retrospectively evaluate, using gelatin-zymography, the MMP2 and 9 activities in CSF samples obtained from dogs with non-inflammatory diseases of the CNS, with particular attention to space-occupying lesions (SOL). This last activity was evaluated in comparison with two other different pathological conditions: idiopathic epilepsy (IE) and disk herniation (DH).