We studied the relationship between high myopia and the MMP3 and TIMP1 genes.Case-control study.We enrolled 150 high myopic individuals ( or = -1.5 diopters) initially, and another 216 cases and 474 controls were enrolled for genotyping promising polymorphisms for replication. Thirteen polymorphisms were genotyped in the initial data. Logistic regression was used to test for genetic effects. Subset analyses were performed according to the education level and family history.There was no significant association between any polymorphism and high myopia in the initial data. Among the highly educated subjects, the 5A/6A polymorphism at the MMP3 gene suggested a potential relationship with high myopia, and it was genotyped in the follow-up samples. However, this polymorphism failed to show any significant results in the overall subjects.The two genes may not play a crucial role for high myopia in young Taiwanese men.