Galectin‐3 and Hypertensive Heart Disease

Is galectin‐3 a useful biomarker in stratifying the risk of heart failure in diabetes?

“…If confirmed in larger studies, from a translational point of view these findings suggest that the combined use of multiple biomarkers (i.e., BNP and galectin‐3) may refine the ability to predict the risk of HFpEF in diabetic patients with “normal” or only marginally elevated BNP levels. In potential support of this, it should be underlined that diabetes mellitus powerfully stimulates fibroblast proliferation and activates transcription and secretion of extracellular matrix proteins resulting in fibrotic and decrease in anti‐fibrotic processes very early, that is, in the preclinical stages of HF 16,17 . These observations, however, need to be evaluated also in light of some observational evidence on the prognostic significance of galectin‐3 in patients with type 2 diabetes.…”

“…In potential support of this, it should be underlined that diabetes mellitus powerfully stimulates fibroblast proliferation and activates transcription and secretion of extracellular matrix proteins resulting in fibrotic and decrease in anti-fibrotic processes very early, that is, in the preclinical stages of HF. 16,17 These observations, however, need to be evaluated also in light of some observational evidence on the prognostic significance of galectin-3 in patients with type 2 diabetes. A few years ago Alonso et al 18 investigating the predictive value of a multi-biomarker panel, including galectin-3, in 1069 consecutive ambulatory HF patients followed-up for 4.9 years found that ST2 protein with hs-TnT were the only markers that were independently associated with both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the sub-group of diabetic patients.…”