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. 2015 Mar;35(3):725-32.
doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.114.304964. Epub 2015 Jan 22.

Galectin-3 predicts long-term cardiovascular death in high-risk patients with coronary artery disease

Giuseppe Maiolino  1 , Giacomo Rossitto  1 , Luigi Pedon  1 , Maurizio Cesari  1 , Anna Chiara Frigo  1 , Matteo Azzolini  1 , Mario Plebani  1 , Gian Paolo Rossi  2
Affiliations

Galectin-3 predicts long-term cardiovascular death in high-risk patients with coronary artery disease

Giuseppe Maiolino et al. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) can affect atherogenesis by multiple mechanisms, but it remains scarcely known whether plasma Gal-3 levels predict cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease. Therefore, we investigated if Gal-3 predicts cardiovascular death in patients with coronary artery disease of the Genetic and ENvironmental factors In Coronary Artery disease study.

Approach and results: In a prospective cohort study, we measured the plasma levels of Gal-3 in 1013 randomly selected patients who underwent coronary angiography and long-term follow-up to assess incident cardiovascular events. The primary end points were (1) cardiovascular death and (2) a composite of cardiovascular death, acute coronary syndrome, and stroke. Secondary end points entailed (1) acute myocardial infarction, (2) stroke, and (3) a composite fatal ischemic event including fatal myocardial infarction and stroke. The effect of Gal-3 on prognosis was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariate Cox's regression. During long-term follow-up (median, 7.2 years), 115 cardiovascular deaths occurred (15.2%), more commonly in the high Gal-3 tertile (25.2%) than in the intermediate and the low tertiles (13.6% versus 7.5%, respectively; P<0.001). The adverse prognostic effect of high Gal-3 was confirmed in subgroup analysis of the patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease and also of those with a normal left ventricular ejection fraction. At multivariate analysis, Gal-3 was a predictor of cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio, 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.10-2.93; P=0.020) along with age, left ventricular ejection fraction, and coronary atherosclerotic burden.

Conclusions: In high cardiovascular risk patients referred for coronary angiography Gal-3 is a strong independent predictor of cardiovascular death.

Keywords: atherosclerosis; coronary artery disease; galectin-3; prognosis; prospective studies.

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