{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T09:14:43Z","timestamp":1790673283820,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,18]],"date-time":"2020-11-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1605657600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005888","name":"Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lodzi","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["503\/5-009-01\/503-51-004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["503\/5-009-01\/503-51-004"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005888","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100005888","name":"Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lodzi","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["503\/5-009-01\/503- 51-002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["503\/5-009-01\/503- 51-002"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100005888","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disorder associated with multiple organ involvement. The aim of the study was to present two SSc patients who were diagnosed with ischemic retinopathy in both eyes. As a background to our case study, we decided to investigate the imbalance of angiogenesis factors in 25 SSc patients in relation to 25 healthy controls. Assays of matrix metalloproteinases-2 and -9 (MMP-2, MMP-9), tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) and -2 (TIMP-2), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and soluble VEGF receptor-2 (sVEGFR-2) in blood serum and tears were performed. A significantly increased levels of MMP-9 in serum and tears, (p = 0.0375 and p &lt; 0.001, respectively) as well as VEGF\/sVEGFR-2 ratio in tears (p &lt; 0.001) were found in the whole SSc patients group compared with controls, while reduced levels of these parameters in patients with ischemic sclerodermic retinopathy were noted. We also observed decreased level MMP-2 in tears and increased levels of TIMP-2 in blood serum and tears of SSc patients with retinal ischemic changes. MMP-9, MMP-2, TIMP-2, and VEGF\/sVEGFR-2 may play a crucial role in ischemic retinal degeneration or retinal reorganization in SSc.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms21228703","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,18]],"date-time":"2020-11-18T07:41:00Z","timestamp":1605685260000},"page":"8703","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Matrix Metalloproteinases MMP-2 and MMP-9, Their Inhibitors TIMP-1 and TIMP-2, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and sVEGFR-2 as Predictive Markers of Ischemic Retinopathy in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis\u2014Case Series Report"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4950-6390","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arleta","family":"Waszczykowska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Rehabilitation, Medical University of Lodz, Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4513-0602","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Micha\u0142","family":"Podg\u00f3rski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Polish Mother\u2019s Memorial Hospital Research Institute, Rzgowska 281\/289, 93-338 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3486-3555","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Micha\u0142","family":"Waszczykowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Arthroscopy, Minimally Invasive Surgery and Sports Traumatology, Medical University of Lodz, Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8109-287X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zofia","family":"Gerlicz- Kowalczuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Pediatric Dermatology and Dermatological Oncology, Medical University of Lodz, Kosciuszki 4, 90-647 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Piotr","family":"Jurowski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Rehabilitation, Medical University of Lodz, Zeromskiego 113, 90-549 Lodz, Poland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1675","DOI":"10.1093\/rheumatology\/key166","article-title":"2-Methoxyestradiol inhibits hypoxia-induced scleroderma fibroblast collagen synthesis by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase\/Akt\/mTOR signalling","volume":"57","author":"Zhou","year":"2018","journal-title":"Rheumatology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3695","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.1813006116","article-title":"Inhibition of EZH2 prevents fibrosis and restores normal angiogenesis in scleroderma","volume":"116","author":"Tsou","year":"2019","journal-title":"Proc. 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