Gelatinolytic activity in tracheal aspirates of horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The gelatinolytic activity in tracheal aspirates (TA) of horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was analyzed using SDS-PAGE-gelatin-gel electrophoresis (zymography) and compared to TAs from healthy controls. The 110-90 kD MMP-9 type gelatinase was high in symptomatic disease phases (permanent disease 0.46 +/- 0.15, p<0.001; or intermittent disease 0.47 +/- 0.12, p<0.001) compared to healthy controls (0.10 +/- 0.07). Similarly, the overall gelatinolytic activity, the activity in high-mw gelatinolytic bands (210-190 and 150 kD) and in proteolytically processed fragments in the 50-40 kD range were high, whereas the 75-65 kD MMP-2 was not altered. These findings suggest that MMP-9 type gelatinases, originating possibly from neutrophils or macrophages, and products thereof have a role in the pathogenesis of equine respiratory diseases, whereas MMP-2 type gelatinases represent house-keeping proteinases involved with normal tissue remodelling. The gelatinolytic activity in TAs correlated with the beta-glucuronidase activity, which indicates that they are simultaneously elevated in the respiratory secretions of horses suffering from COPD and might both be of same origin, or have a causal relationship.