MMP9 and alkaline phosphatase measurement: With comparison of mild AP, moderate AP and SAP groups, MMP-9 was found to be significantly different between the 3 groups (p = 0.04) (Table 3, Fig 1), with SAP patients having significantly higher median log MMP-9 levels (18.6, IQR: 16.3–18.8) than mild AP (16.0, 15.1–16.9) (p = 0.046).