1st Department of Cardiology, 'Hippokration' Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2019;17(4):396-400. doi: 10.2174/1570161116666180703094919.
Cardiac performance depends on optimum ventriculoarterial coupling which is impaired in patients with heart failure (HF). Galectin-3 is a mediator of myocardial fibrosis and remodeling, and is associated with clinical status in patients with chronic HF. We examined the association of arterial stiffness with galectin-3 levels in patients with HF of ischemic etiology.
We consecutively enrolled 40 patients with stable ischemic HF and reduced ejection fraction. Central aortic stiffness was evaluated non-invasively by measuring carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV). Among other factors, serum levels of galectin-3 and b-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) were measured.
The median galectin-3 levels in our study population were 12.9 (10.8-18.7) ng/ml and the mean PWV was 9.31±2.79 m/sec. There was significant association of galectin-3 levels with age (r=0.48, p=0.003), creatinine clearance (r=-0.66, p<0.001) and BNP levels (r=0.36, p=0.05). There was a significant association of galectin-3 levels with PWV (r=0.37, p=0.03) and patients with PWV above median also had significantly increased levels of galectin-3 compared with patients with lower values of PWV [16.1(11.8-25.2) vs. 12.1(10.5-14) ng/ml, p=0.03].
We found an association of arterial stiffness and PWV with galectin-3 levels in patients with chronic HF of ischemic etiology. These findings suggest a pathway driving arterial stiffening and myocardial remodelling in HF. This may provide insight into the mechanism determining prognosis and clinical status of patients with HF.
心脏功能取决于最佳的心室-动脉偶联，而心力衰竭（HF）患者的心室-动脉偶联受损。半乳糖凝集素-3 是心肌纤维化和重塑的介质，与慢性 HF 患者的临床状况相关。我们研究了缺血性病因 HF 患者的动脉僵硬与半乳糖凝集素-3 水平之间的关系。
我们连续纳入 40 例射血分数降低的稳定缺血性 HF 患者。通过测量颈股脉搏波速度（PWV）无创性评估中心主动脉僵硬。在其他因素中，测量了血清半乳糖凝集素-3 和 B 型利钠肽（BNP）水平。
在我们的研究人群中，半乳糖凝集素-3 水平的中位数为 12.9（10.8-18.7）ng/ml，平均 PWV 为 9.31±2.79 m/sec。半乳糖凝集素-3 水平与年龄（r=0.48，p=0.003）、肌酐清除率（r=-0.66，p<0.001）和 BNP 水平（r=0.36，p=0.05）显著相关。半乳糖凝集素-3 水平与 PWV 显著相关（r=0.37，p=0.03），PWV 高于中位数的患者的半乳糖凝集素-3 水平也明显高于 PWV 较低的患者[16.1（11.8-25.2）vs. 12.1（10.5-14）ng/ml，p=0.03]。
我们发现慢性缺血性 HF 患者的动脉僵硬和 PWV 与半乳糖凝集素-3 水平相关。这些发现提示 HF 中驱动动脉僵硬和心肌重塑的途径。这可能深入了解决定 HF 患者预后和临床状况的机制。
