Galectin-3, a Marker of Cardiac Fibrosis, Predicts Incident Heart Failure in the Community

By J. Ho, Chunyu Liu, Asya Lyass, P. Courchesne, Michael J. Pencina, Ramachandran S. Vasan, Martin G. Larson, Daniel Levy. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2012

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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.

Subfields: Immunology, Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine

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