TIMP1 and diabetes mellitus: After adjustment for age, sex, duration of diabetes, HbA1c and nephropathy, higher levels of MMPs 1, 2, 3 and 9, and TIMP-1 were significantly associated with incidence of cardiovascular events, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.51 (95% CI 1.20; 1.91) per 1 SD higher lnMMP-1; 1.65 (1.28; 2.13) for lnMMP-2; 1.47 (1.13; 1.92) for lnMMP-3; 1.44 (1.17; 1.78) for lnMMP-9; and 1.87 (1.40; 2.49) for lnTIMP-1, respectively (Table 2, model 1).