No current infection | Infected# | p-value | No NE activity | Free NE activity¶ | p-value | |
MMP-2 ng·mL-1§ | 3.50 (3.50–10.77) | 3.50 (3.50–5.87) | 0.2166 | 8.15 (3.50–13.43)## | 3.50 (3.50–3.50)## | <0.0001 |
MMP-9 ng·mL-1§ | 465.70 (25.00–1029.00)¶¶ | 1406.00 (527.60–4055.00)¶¶ | 0.0018 | 269.50 (25.00–727.00)## | 1494.00 (25.00–4791.00)## | <0.0001 |
TIMP-1 ng·mL-1§ | 16.98 (7.96–31.34) | 17.94 (9.54–25.12) | 0.8403 | 14.40 (7.28–22.40)## | 19.91 (14.41–37.18)## | 0.0406 |
TIMP-2 ng·mL-1§ | 1.14 (0.84–2.17) | 1.24 (0.81–1.68) | 0.7778 | 1.05 (0.68–1.41)## | 1.46 (0.92–2.18)## | 0.0097 |
MMP-2/TIMP-2 ratio | 5.41 (2.10–11.02) | 3.33 (2.17–9.72) | 0.4495 | 9.59 (4.14–19.97)## | 2.73 (1.61–3.65)## | <0.0001 |
MMP-9/TIMP-1 ratio | 21.19 (4.18–70.66)¶¶ | 77.53 (34.95–146.40)¶¶ | 0.0037 | 13.81 (6.16–70.28)## | 84.70 (31.28–193.50)## | 0.0018 |
Pro-MMP-9 AUƒ | 17.29±10.73¶¶ | 25.54±10.40¶¶ | 0.0028 | 16.02±9.33## | 26.55±10.69## | <0.0001 |
Active MMP-9 AUƒ | 11.63±10.11¶¶ | 21.22±14.38¶¶ | 0.0029 | 6.70±4.69## | 25.85±11.90## | <0.0001 |
Activation ratio | 0.67±0.38 | 0.86±0.66 | 0.6002 | 0.46±0.23## | 1.06±0.60## | <0.0001 |
Data are presented as median (interquartile range) or mean±sd. Bold text represents statistical significance. TIMP: tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase; AU: arbitrary units. #: bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) with >104 bacterial CFU·mL-1; ¶: BALF >200 ng·mL-1 (>6.78 nM); §: samples below detection range were reported as half the lower limit; ƒ: integrated intensity of MMP band as AU; ##: statistical significance between no NE activity and free NE activity; ¶¶: statistical significance between no current infection and infected.