Association of Serum Galectin-3 with the Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

BackgroundAcute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) aggravates the overall severity in COPD patients, resulting in severe morbidity and mortality. However, there are no objective biomarkers currently available to predict the development of AECOPD. Several studies have indicated that galectin-3 (Gal-3) is involved in diseases characterized by excessive inflammatory response and fibrosis. The objective of this study was to examine the dynamic changes of Gal-3 in acute exacerbation and convalescence phases of COPD.Material/MethodsSerum levels of Gal-3, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), and prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (pro-BNP) were determined using multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. Serum levels of Gal-3 in 44 patients with COPD were further analyzed and correlated with the parameters of lung function and the biomarkers of systemic inflammation.ResultsThe mean level of serum Gal-3 was significantly higher in acute exacerbation of COPD compared with the level in COPD convalescence phase (32.10±9.83 versus 29.02±8.68 ng/mL, p<0.01). Serum levels of Gal-3 positively correlated with hsCRP (r=0.354, p=0.018 for total patients) and pro-BNP (r=0.319, p=0.035 for total patients) in AECOPD. In addition, the level of Gal-3 was the highest in the current smoker group, and the lowest in the never-smoker group in either the acute exacerbation phase (33.91±3.55 versus 29.12±11.73 ng/mL, p=0.036) or the convalescence phase (30.94±3.40 versus 27.76±9.68 ng/mL, p=0.045) of COPD.ConclusionsOur results indicated that serum Gal-3 is increased in AECOPD patients, which is also positively associated with systemic inflammation and smoking in patients with COPD, suggesting that Gal-3 might be a valuable biomarker for AECOPD.

Novel heart failure biomarkers: why do we fail to exploit their potential?

“…Gal-3 is also involved in renal fibrosis, as shown by several animal studies [51,54], and plasma levels of Gal-3 are increased in several other diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and several types of cancer [55][56][57]. Therefore, it is likely that the observed increases in plasma levels of Gal-3 in HF are associated with increased cardiac Gal-3 production, but also with production in other organs and/or tissues.…”

LGALS3 +191A and +292C polymorphisms are associated with a reduction in serum gal-3 levels, but not with the clinical events of individuals with sickle cell anemia

“…In addition to SCA, gal-3 levels, when increased, have already been associated with coronary remodeling promoting the development of coronary artery ectasia (CAE) (Aciksari et al, 2020). Increased serum levels of gal-3 have been observed in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as they were associated with systemic inflammation, which suggests that gal-3 could be a biomarker for this disease (Feng et al, 2017).…”

The diagnostic value of proteoglycan 4 in the differentiation of stable and exacerbation periods in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a preliminary study

“…Literature review revealed that several laboratory parameters (CRP, PCT, nitric oxide, galectin-3, L-arginine, changes in leukocyte count or formula, etc.) have been investigated in order to distinguish the exacerbation and stable periods of COPD [8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. However, there are only few studies investigating the relationship between PRG4 and COPD, and the results show that PRG4 levels increase in patients with COPD [15,16].…”