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Meta-Analysis
. 2023 Feb 23:14:1127247.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1127247. eCollection 2023.

Galectins can serve as biomarkers in COVID-19: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis

Amir Hossein Behnoush  1   2 , Amirmohammad Khalaji  1   2 , Seyedeh Yasaman Alemohammad  3 , Amirali Kalantari  1 , Alessandro Cannavo  4 , Charles J Dimitroff  5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Galectins can serve as biomarkers in COVID-19: A comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis

Amir Hossein Behnoush et al. Front Immunol. .

Abstract

Background: Galectins are an eleven-member class of lectins in humans that function as immune response mediators and aberrancies in their expression are commonly associated with immunological diseases. Several studies have focused on galectins as they may represent an important biomarker and a therapeutic target in the fight against COVID-19. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the usefulness of clinical assessment of circulating galectin levels in patients with COVID-19.

Methods: International databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase were systematically used as data sources for our analyses. The random-effect model was implemented to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD) and a 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results: A total of 18 studies, comprising 2,765 individuals, were identified and used in our analyses. We found that Gal-3 is the most widely investigated galectin in COVID-19. Three studies reported significantly higher Gal-1 levels in COVID-19 patients. Meta-analysis revealed that patients with COVID-19 had statistically higher levels of Gal-3 compared with healthy controls (SMD 0.53, 95% CI 0.10 to 0.96, P=0.02). However, there was no significant difference between severe and non-severe cases (SMD 0.45, 95% CI -0.17 to 1.07, P=0.15). While one study supports lower levels of Gal-8 in COVID-19, Gal-9 was measured to be higher in patients and more severe cases.

Conclusion: Our study supports Gal-3 as a valuable non-invasive biomarker for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of COVID-19. Moreover, based on the evidence provided here, more studies are needed to confirm a similar diagnostic and prognostic role for Gal-1, -8, and -9.

Keywords: COVID-19; biomarker; galectin; meta-analysis; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram summarizing the selection of eligible studies based on the PRISMA guidelines.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot for the meta-analysis of Gal-3 levels in COVID-19 patients vs. healthy controls.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot for the meta-analysis of Gal-3 levels in COVID-19 patients vs. healthy controls after removing the outlier study (33).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot for the meta-analysis of Gal-3 levels in severe vs. non-severe COVID-19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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