In the present study, we investigated the association of five functional polymorphisms of MMP-1 rs1799750, MMP-3 rs3025058, MMP-8 rs11225395, MMP-9 rs2234681, and TIMP-1 rs4898 with clinical presentation of Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), sepsis susceptibility, etiology, and survival in a cohort of patients from the Need Speed study. Here, MMP8 is linked to systemic inflammatory response syndrome.