3?��?2.5?a.u.). However, dogs with lymphoma showed a significantly higher catalytic activity of MMP-9 (P?<?0.01) compared with healthy controls (91.7?��?4.8?a.u. versus 12.4?��?2.1?a.u., respectively; Table?1). When considering the cytokine levels and clinical stage, statistically significant higher expression of act-MMP-9 was found in stage V B-cell lymphomas (95.3?��?3.4?a.u.) than in stage III/IV B-cell lymphomas (83.4?��?4.7?a.u.; P?<?0.01). Higher expression of act-MMP-9 was found in stage V Everolimus ic50 T-cell lymphomas (113.7?��?3.2?a.u.) than in stage III/IV T-cell lymphomas (94.7?��?2.1?a.u.; P?<?0.05). When examining the immunophenotype, T-cell lymphomas presented a higher concentration of act-MMP-9 at the time of diagnosis (103.3?��?2.9?a.u.) than B-cell lymphomas (89.2?��?8.8?a.u.), and this was statistically significant (P?<?0.05). Neither lymphoma nor control dogs showed expression of act-MMP-2. Plasma levels of pro-MMP-2 were not significantly increased in lymphoma dogs (104.3?��?10.2?a.u.) with respect to control dogs (98.2?��?3.9?a.u.; Fig.?1; Table?1). Plasma VEGF levels in dogs with lymphoma were higher than that in controls (59.3?��?14.3?pg/mL versus 40.1?��?10.4?pg/mL, respectively; P?<?0.05), and this was statistically significant (P?<?0.05; Table?1). Also, VEGF plasmatic levels were significantly higher (P?<?0.01) in stage V B-cell lymphomas (58.3?��?4.5?pg/mL) than in stage III/IV B-cell lymphomas (49.1?��?2.1?pg/mL), and in stage V T-cell lymphomas (78.1?��?3.7?pg/mL) than in stage III/IV T-cell lymphomas (63.1?��?4.5?pg/mL). In dogs with B-cell lymphoma, the mean VEGF value at diagnosis was lower when compared with dogs with T-cell lymphoma (55.4?��?21.3?pg/mL versus 67.4?��?19.1?pg/mL, respectively). A positive correlation between concentrations of act-MMP-9 and VEGF plasma levels was found in all lymphoma dogs (r?=?0.78, P?<?0.001). Concerning plasma TGF-�� levels, the median values were similar between B- and T-cell lymphoma (11377.6?pg/mL and 10343.4?pg/mL, respectively). Although not statistically significant, the mean plasma TGF-�� value in control healthy dogs (19185.5?pg/mL) was higher when compared with lymphoma dogs (Table?1). At the time of diagnosis, VEGF levels were significantly lower in low-grade (59.7?��?3.3) compared with high-grade (76.4?��?4.8) T-cell lymphomas (P?<?0.05). No such differences were observed for MMP-2, MMP-9 and TGF-��. Plasma was obtained at admission in 29 dogs undergoing the same chemotherapeutic protocol. MMP and cytokines profiles did not differ between dogs obtaining remission (complete and partial) or experiencing progressive disease, thereby not being useful in predicting treatment response. Plasma was serially obtained from 13 dogs (10 B-cell and 3 T-cell lymphomas) undergoing chemotherapy. In these dogs, pro-MMP-9, pro-MMP-2 and act-MMP-2 levels did not change at the three standard times.