The patients with encephalitis had the most significantly increased levels of MMPs in CSF, and MMP-3, MMP-8, and MMP-12 were exclusively increased in this group, whereas MMP-9 in CSF was increased in the patients with VZV meningitis.
In a mouse meningitis model, the zmpC deletion mutant exhibited increased invasion of the brain and was associated with increased matrix metalloproteinase-9 in plasma and mortality as compared with the wild type.
The highest levels of MMP-9 were found in the CSF of patients with cryptococcosis, cytomegalovirus encephalitis and tuberculous meningitis and were comparable with those found in the CSF of HIV-negative patients with multiple sclerosis or meningitis.
Evidence is accumulating that gelatinase B (MMP-9) might be involved in the pathogenesis of meningitis, but the spectrum of different MMPs involved in the inflammatory reaction of this disease has not been determined.