Galectin-3 in Peripheral Artery Disease. Relationships with Markers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation

Abstract

Galectin-3 is a modulator of oxidative stress, inflammation, and fibrogenesis involved in the pathogenesis of vascular diseases. The present study sought to characterize, in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), the localization of galectin-3 in arterial tissue, and to analyze the relationships between the circulating levels of galectin-3 and oxidative stress and inflammation. It also sought to compare the diagnostic accuracy of galectin-3 with that of other biochemical markers of this disease. We analyzed femoral or popliteal arteries from 50 PAD patients, and four control arteries. Plasma from 86 patients was compared with that from 72 control subjects. We observed differences in the expression of galectin-3 in normal arteries, and arteries from patients with PAD, with a displacement of the expression from the adventitia to the media, and the intima. In addition, plasma galectin-3 concentration was increased in PAD patients, and correlated with serologic markers of oxidative stress (F2-isoprostanes), and inflammation [chemokine (C−C motif) ligand 2, C-reactive protein, β-2-microglobulin]. We conclude that the determination of galectin-3 has good diagnostic accuracy in the assessment of PAD and compares well with other analytical parameters currently in use.

Early Assessment of the Risk Factors for Diabetic Retinopathy Can Reduce the Risk of Peripheral Arterial and Cardiovascular Diseases in Type 2 Diabetes

“…Similarly, our study showed that dyslipidemia is a common risk factor for PAD, CVD, and DR, thus suggesting that early attention to and control of dyslipidemia in patients with DR could help to prevent and postpone the onset and progression of macroand microangiopathy and reduce the risk of PAD and CVD. According to the basic research, this result might be due to the fact that dyslipidemia leads to endothelial dysfunction, the increase of oxygen free radicals, and the inactivation of nitric oxide, i.e., oxidative stress [36,37,[52][53][54].…”

Galectin-3 Is a Potential Mediator for Atherosclerosis

“…Gal-3 was shown to induce oxidative stress through the release of O 2 in cultured mast cells, an effect that was blocked by the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase [32]. A study revealed that plasma Gal-3 concentration was increased in peripheral artery disease patients and correlated with F2-isoprostanes, the serologic marker of oxidative stress [33].…”

Galectin‐3 aggravates ox‐LDL‐induced endothelial dysfunction through LOX‐1 mediated signaling pathway

“…Additionally, the plasma levels of galectin‐3 are increased in carotid atherosclerotic patients . In particular, it is expressed in adventitia in normal arteries but displaced by media and the intima in patients with peripheral arterial disease suggesting the involvement of galectin‐3 in the site of the atherosclerosis plaque formation . On the contrary, the inhibition of galectin‐3 by either gene inactivation or therapeutic modulation to reduce lesion size in apolipoprotein E‐deficient mice is mainly attributed to the diminishment of its proinflammatory properties.…”

“…18 In particular, it is expressed in adventitia in normal arteries but displaced by media and the intima in patients with peripheral arterial disease suggesting the involvement of galectin-3 in the site of the atherosclerosis plaque formation. 10 On the contrary, the inhibition of galectin-3 by either gene inactivation 19 or therapeutic modulation 20 to reduce lesion size in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice is mainly attributed to the diminishment of its proinflammatory properties. A recent study reveals that galectin-3 exacerbates oxLDL-mediated endothelial injury by inducing inflammation via integrin β1-RhoA-JNK signaling activation.…”

“…Galectin‐3 is associated with various physiological and pathological processes and plays a key role in the progression of atherosclerotic plaques by enhancement of several proinflammatory molecules in the aorta . As a biomarker linking oxidative stress and inflammation, galectin‐3 is closely related to the pathogenesis of vascular diseases, cardiac fibrosis, hearth failure, and mortality in patients with atherosclerosis . Accumulating evidence indicates that galectin‐3 is expressed in several types of cells such as fibroblasts, endothelial cells, and inflammatory cells within the cytoplasm, nucleus, and extracellular space.…”