We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

LabMedica

Download Mobile App
Recent News Expo Clinical Chem. Molecular Diagnostics Hematology Immunology Microbiology Pathology Technology Industry Focus

Galectin-3 Predicts Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Diabetic Patients

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 19 Oct 2020
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a general term for conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels. It's usually associated with a build-up of fatty deposits inside the arteries (atherosclerosis) and an increased risk of blood clots. Type 2 diabetes (T2D) can lead to early and severe atherosclerosis.

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is also a member of the beta-galactoside-binding protein family that plays an important role in cell-cell adhesion, cell-matrix interactions, macrophage activation, angiogenesis, metastasis, and apoptosis. Galectin-3 is a novel prognostic biomarker with high predictive value for cardiovascular mortality and re-hospitalization in heart failure patients.

Image: An ELISA kit for Galectin-3 which can predict cardiovascular events in patients with type-2 diabetes (Photo courtesy of Immuno-Biological Laboratories).
Image: An ELISA kit for Galectin-3 which can predict cardiovascular events in patients with type-2 diabetes (Photo courtesy of Immuno-Biological Laboratories).

Medical scientists at the Fundacion Jimenez Diaz University Hospital (Madrid, Spain) studied 964 patients with coronary artery disease. They assessed baseline galectin-3, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and N-terminal fragment of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) plasma levels in the patients. Male patients were 75% in T2D group and 76.6% in the non-T2D group and mean age was 61.0 and 60.0 years, respectively. The team identified 232 patients with T2D. The patients were followed up for a median of 5.39 years.

The scientists reported that patients with T2D showed higher MCP-1(144 versus 133 pg/mL) and galectin-3 (8.3 versus 7.8 ng/mL) levels. Galectin-3 levels were associated with increased risk of the primary outcome in T2D patients (Hazard ratio [HR] = 1.57), along with a history of cerebrovascular events. NT-proBNP and MCP-1, but not galectin-3, were related to increased risk of the event in non-diabetic patients (HR = 1.21 and HR = 1.23 respectively), along with male sex and age. Galectin-3 was also the only biomarker that predicted the development of acute ischemic events and heart failure or death in T2D patients, while in non-diabetics MCP-1 and NT-proBNP, respectively, predicted these events.

The authors concluded that in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), cardiovascular events are predicted by galectin-3 plasma levels in patients with T2D, and by MCP-1 and NT-proBNP in those without T2D. Galectin-3 predicts cardiovascular events in patients with type-2 diabetes. The study was presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2020 held virtually August 29 to September 1, 2020.

Related Links:
Fundacion Jimenez Diaz University Hospital


Gold Member
Veterinary Hematology Analyzer
Exigo H400
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Respiratory Bacterial Panel
Real Respiratory Bacterial Panel 2
New
Community-Acquired Pneumonia Test
RIDA UNITY CAP Bac

Latest Clinical Chem. News

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Low-Cost Portable Screening Test to Transform Kidney Disease Detection

New Method Uses Pulsed Infrared Light to Find Cancer's 'Fingerprints' In Blood Plasma



Sekisui Diagnostics UK Ltd.