Among the vascular endothelial dysfunction biomarkers analyzed, serum levels of sVCAM-1, MCP-1 and MMP-9 were higher in women with RA before anti-TNF-α therapy than in healthy individuals (p <0.05, p <0.05 and p <0.001, respectively; Table 3). The gene discussed is MMP9; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.