Description
Investigators at the University of Pittsburgh have shown that the activation peptides of Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are detectable in the urine via ELISA in mice with lung fibrosis and human patients with IPF but not in the urine of controls. These data suggest that urine detection of MMP activation peptides is feasible and correlates with disease. Because MMP activation contributes to disease initiation and progression, investigators feel that the accurate detection of activation of these proteases will be relevant clinically and may allow for earlier detection of disease as well as allow for prediction of acute exacerbations.
IP Status
https://patents.google.com/patent/US8568996B2
