Objectives We sought to examine the relation of galectin-3 (Gal-3), a marker of cardiac fibrosis, with incident heart failure (HF) in the community. Background Gal-3 is an emerging prognostic biomarker in HF, and experimental studies suggest that Gal-3 is an important mediator of cardiac fibrosis. Whether elevated Gal-3 concentrations precede the development of HF is unknown. Methods Gal-3 concentrations were measured in 3,353 participants in the Framingham Offspring Cohort (mean age 59 years, 53% women). The relation of Gal-3 to incident HF was assessed using proportional hazards regression. Results Gal-3 was associated with increased left ventricular mass in age- and sex-adjusted analyses (P=0.001); this association was attenuated in multivariable analyses (P=0.06). A total of 166 participants developed incident HF and 468 died during a mean follow-up of 8.1 years. Gal-3 was associated with risk of incident HF (HR 1.28 per 1 standard deviation increase in log-Gal-3, 95% CI 1.14–1.43, P<0.0001), and remained significant after adjustment for clinical variables and B-type natriuretic peptide (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.04–1.47, P=0.02). Gal-3 was also associated with risk of all-cause mortality (multivariable-adjusted HR 1.15, 95% CI 1.04–1.28, P=0.01). The addition of Gal-3 to clinical factors resulted in negligible changes to the c-statistic and minor improvements in the net reclassification index. Conclusions Higher concentration of Gal-3, a marker of cardiac fibrosis, is associated with increased risk of incident HF and mortality. Future studies evaluating the role of Gal-3 in cardiac remodeling may provide further insights into the role of Gal-3 in the pathophysiology of HF.

Identifying genetic variants associated with circulating protein concentrations (protein quantitative trait loci; pQTLs) and integrating them with variants from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may illuminate the proteome’s causal role in disease and bridge a knowledge gap regarding SNP-disease associations. We provide the results of GWAS of 71 high-value cardiovascular disease proteins in 6861 Framingham Heart Study participants and independent external replication. We report the mapping of over 16,000 pQTL variants and their functional relevance. We provide an integrated plasma protein-QTL database. Thirteen proteins harbor pQTL variants that match coronary disease-risk variants from GWAS or test causal for coronary disease by Mendelian randomization. Eight of these proteins predict new-onset cardiovascular disease events in Framingham participants. We demonstrate that identifying pQTLs, integrating them with GWAS results, employing Mendelian randomization, and prospectively testing protein-trait associations holds potential for elucidating causal genes, proteins, and pathways for cardiovascular disease and may identify targets for its prevention and treatment.

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