Furthermore, MMP-9 levels were shown to directly relate to stroke infarct volume (Horstmann et al., 2003; Rosell et al., 2005; Sotgiu et al., 2006; Vukasovic et al., 2006), a correlation that was observed at 24 h post-stroke (Rosell et al., 2005), but was apparent as early as 6 h post-stroke (Montaner et al., 2003b), with MMP-9 identified as the only marker that accurately predicted final infarct volume (Montaner et al., 2003b). Here, MMP9 is linked to stroke disorder.