Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
J Intern Med. 2012 Jul;272(1):55-64. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2796.2011.02476.x. Epub 2011 Nov 18.
Galectin-3 is involved in fibrosis and inflammation and plays a role in heart failure, renal disease, obesity and cancer. We aimed to establish the relationship between galectin-3 and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and mortality in the general population.
This study included 7968 subjects from the Prevention of REnal and Vascular ENd-stage Disease (PREVEND) cohort, with a median follow-up of approximately 10 years. Plasma galectin-3 was measured in baseline samples.
We investigated the relationships between galectin-3 levels, demographic characteristics and risk factors of CV disease. We determined the prognostic value for all-cause, CV and cancer mortality.
The mean age of the population was 50 ± 13 years. Mean blood pressure was 129/74 mmHg, mean cholesterol was 5.7 ± 1.1 mmol L(-1) and median galectin-3 was 10.9 ng mL(-1) [interquartile range (IQR) 9.0-13.1]. Galectin-3 levels correlated with a wide range of risk factors of CV disease, including blood pressure, serum lipids, body mass index, renal function and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (P < 0.0001). We observed a strong association between galectin-3 and age. Furthermore, we found a gender interaction, with female subjects (n = 4001) having higher median galectin-3 levels (11.0 ng mL(-1) , IQR 9.1-13.4 vs. men (n = 3967) 10.7 ng mL(-1) , IQR 8.9-12.8; P < 0.0001), and galectin-3 levels in women more strongly correlated with risk factors of CV disease. After correction for the classical CV risk factors (smoking, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes), galectin-3 levels independently predicted all-cause mortality (hazard ratio per SD galectin-3 1.09, 95% CI 1.01-1.19; P = 0.036), but not CV and cancer mortality separately.
Galectin-3 is associated with age and risk factors of CV disease, with a strong gender interaction for these correlations. Galectin-3 predicts all-cause mortality in the general population.
半乳糖凝集素-3 参与纤维化和炎症反应，并在心衰、肾病、肥胖和癌症中发挥作用。我们旨在确定半乳糖凝集素-3 与普通人群心血管（CV）危险因素和死亡率之间的关系。
本研究纳入了 PREVEND 队列中的 7968 名受试者，中位随访时间约为 10 年。在基线样本中测量了血浆半乳糖凝集素-3。
我们研究了半乳糖凝集素-3 水平与人口统计学特征和 CV 疾病危险因素之间的关系。我们确定了全因、CV 和癌症死亡率的预后价值。
人群的平均年龄为 50±13 岁。平均血压为 129/74mmHg，平均胆固醇为 5.7±1.1mmol/L，中位数半乳糖凝集素-3 为 10.9ng/mL[四分位距（IQR）9.0-13.1]。半乳糖凝集素-3 水平与 CV 疾病的多种危险因素相关，包括血压、血清脂质、体重指数、肾功能和 N 末端 pro-B 型利钠肽（P<0.0001）。我们观察到半乳糖凝集素-3 与年龄之间存在很强的关联。此外，我们发现了性别交互作用，女性受试者（n=4001）的中位数半乳糖凝集素-3 水平更高（11.0ng/mL，IQR 9.1-13.4 vs. 男性（n=3967）10.7ng/mL，IQR 8.9-12.8；P<0.0001），且女性半乳糖凝集素-3 水平与 CV 疾病的危险因素相关性更强。在纠正了经典的 CV 危险因素（吸烟、血压、胆固醇和糖尿病）后，半乳糖凝集素-3 水平独立预测全因死亡率（每 SD 半乳糖凝集素-3 增加的危险比为 1.09，95%CI 1.01-1.19；P=0.036），但不能单独预测 CV 和癌症死亡率。
半乳糖凝集素-3 与年龄和 CV 疾病的危险因素相关，且与这些相关性存在强烈的性别交互作用。半乳糖凝集素-3 可预测普通人群的全因死亡率。
