TIMP1 and Hypertension: Furthermore, the potential usefulness of the MMP-1 and TIMP-1 serum levels ratio as a marker of myocardial collagen degradation, myocardial expression of MMP-1 and its tissue inhibitor TIMP-1, and the quantity and distribution of fibrillar collagen deposits have been assessed concomitantly to measure serum MMP-1 and TIMP-1 in the same patients with hypertension [95].