RESUMEN
The left ventricular (LV) myocardial remodeling process that occurs in various settings of congestive heart failure (CHF) had historically been attributed to intrinsic changes in the cardiac myocyte. However, it is now recognized that important changes also occur within the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the myocardium, contributing to the remodeling process. Matrix metalloproteinases are a family of proteolytic enzymes responsible for myocardial extracellular protein degradation.Several MMP species identified within the human myocardium may be dysregulated in congestive heart failure (CHF). The purpose of the present review is to present a brief overview of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) within the myocardium that likely contributes to myocardial remodeling,to examine the results from basic studies to explore relationship with respect to MMPs activation and congestive heart failure.-