Galectin-3: A Potential Prognostic and Diagnostic Marker for Heart Disease and Detection of Early Stage Pathology

Abstract

The use of molecular biomarkers for the early detection of heart disease, before their onset of symptoms, is an attractive novel approach. Ideal molecular biomarkers, those that are both sensitive and specific to heart disease, are likely to provide a much earlier diagnosis, thereby providing better treatment outcomes. Galectin-3 is expressed by various immune cells, including mast cells, histiocytes and macrophages, and plays an important role in diverse physiological functions. Since galectin-3 is readily expressed on the cell surface, and is readily secreted by injured and inflammatory cells, it has been suggested that cardiac galectin-3 could be a marker for cardiac disorders such as cardiac inflammation and fibrosis, depending on the specific pathogenesis. Thus, galectin-3 may be a novel candidate biomarker for the diagnosis, analysis and prognosis of various cardiac diseases, including heart failure. The goals of heart disease treatment are to prevent acute onset and to predict their occurrence by using the ideal molecular biomarkers. In this review, we discuss and summarize recent developments of galectin-3 as a next-generation molecular biomarker of heart disease. Furthermore, we describe how galectin-3 may be useful as a diagnostic marker for detecting the early stages of various heart diseases, which may contribute to improved early therapeutic interventions.

Gender-Related Differences in Heart Failure Biomarkers

“…Indeed, prior studies have observed an association between total body fat and Gal-3 levels (86). Although the sex-specific prognostic value of Gal-3 in HF remains unknown, baseline Gal-3 concentrations were associated with adverse outcomes during follow-up in patients with acute and chronic HF (87)(88)(89). However, the prognostic value of Gal-3 in the setting of chronic HF remains controversial; other biomarkers, such as NT-proBNP or sST2, have frequently exhibited superior predictive value (90).…”

Evaluation of galectin‐3, peptidylarginine deiminase‐4, and tumor necrosis factor‐α levels in gingival crevicular fluid for periodontal health, gingivitis, and Stage III Grade C periodontitis: A pilot study

“…Galectins are a family of‐galactoside binding proteins involved in the regulation of the interactions for “cell‐to‐cell” and “cell‐to‐matrix” in different tissues and organs 2 . In galectin‐3, ≈30 kDa chimera‐type galectin is widely expressed by monocytes/macrophages, natural killer cells, activated T and B cells, dendritic cells, mast cells, eosinophils, epithelial cells, endothelial cells, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts in various human tissues 3 .…”

“…Several researches have indicated that galectin‐3 is associated with different diseases including autoimmune disease, heart diseases, diabetes mellitus, renal diseases, viral infections, and tumors 3,4 . In the literature, it has been stated that galectin‐3 is a useful biomarker in the early detection of various diseases such as acute myocarditis, acute myocardial infarction, cardiac fibrosis, glioma tumorigenesis, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 2,6 . There is no information that reveals the association between galectin‐3 and periodontitis.…”

Traditional and Emerging Biomarkers in Asymptomatic Left Ventricular Dysfunction—Promising Non-Coding RNAs and Exosomes as Biomarkers in Early Phases of Cardiac Damage

“…Gal-3 levels have been shown to increase in pre-symptomatic HF animal models as well as during HF progression in both animal models and humans [ 26 , 27 ]. Nevertheless, the use of Gal-3 as a biomarker for asymptomatic LV dysfunction is still debated, mainly due to its low specificity [ 27 ]. In fact, because Gal-3 is not organ-specific, the increase of its concentration in plasma could be the consequence of several inflammatory and fibrotic processes in organs other than the heart.…”