Proteinase/antiproteinase imbalance is a widely accepted theory for the pathogenesis of COPD. Among various proteinases, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) digest extracellular matrix of the lung and play significant roles in the development of COPD. Polymorphisms of an MMP that upregulate its activity may result in the degradation of the lung matrix. A case-control study was performed to investigate the association of polymorphisms of the MMP14 gene with COPD. Japanese subjects (96 COPD patients and 61 controls) and Egyptian subjects (106 COPD patients and 72 controls) were recruited. Each subject was genotyped for seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the MMP14 gene; −165 G/T and −72 G/A in the promoter region, +221 C/T in exon 1, +6727 C/G and +6767 G/A in exon 5, +7096 T/C in exon 6, and +8153 G/A in exon 8. The distributions of the genotype frequencies of these SNPs were not significantly different between the COPD patients and the controls in either ethnic group after correction of multiple comparisons. In the haplotype analysis, however, the haplotype −165 T : +221 T : +6727 C : +7096 C had a significantly higher frequency in the Egyptian COPD group than the control group (pcorr =0.0063). The haplotype of the MMP14 gene, −165 T : +221 T : +6727 C : +7096 C, might be involved in the pathogenesis of COPD.

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