Why We Use the MMP-9 Reference Range We Use- By Dr. Scott McMahon
Some may ask why providers trained in the Shoemaker protocol do not use the published reference ranges of LabCorp and Quest when interpreting MMP-9 results? The answer is simple. The currently published results for MMP-9 are not correct. They are not consistent with the worldwide peer-reviewed published literature. They are not even consistent with other ranges for MMP-9 developed by Quest and LabCorp with known data! I was once asked at deposition if using other-than-published reference values was medical malpractice? I responded that, to know what I know, it would be malpractice to still use the currently published reference ranges. Allow me to explain.
LabCorp bought the Esoterix lab which developed the assay for MMP-9 and runs the assay to this day. Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker asked the Baltimore Quest lab to also run the assay. They agreed if Dr. Shoemaker if he could provide case MMP-9 blood samples to ensure validation of the Esoterix test and control blood samples to define reference ranges. Dr. Shoemaker did so. The initial serum reference range of 85-332 ng/mL for Quest was established by William Meyer, PhD, MT, Technical Director of the Baltimore lab, in 2004, using Dr. Shoemaker’s provided samples.
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