Anyfanti Panagiota, Gkaliagkousi Eugenia, Gavriilaki Eleni, Triantafyllou Areti, Dolgyras Panagiotis, Galanopoulou Vasiliki, Aslanidis Spyros, Douma Stella
3rd Department of Internal Medicine, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Rheumatology Department, Papageorgiou Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Clin Cardiol. 2019 Jan;42(1):62-68. doi: 10.1002/clc.23105. Epub 2018 Nov 27.
Galectin-3 has emerged as a promising novel biomarker of cardiovascular fibrosis in patients with cardiovascular diseases.
We investigated whether galectin-3 correlates with markers of vascular fibrosis, subclinical atherosclerosis, and cardiac function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a disease accompanied by high cardiovascular risk.
RA and non-RA individuals underwent applanation tonometry, carotid ultrasound, and impedance cardiography, to obtain markers of arterial stiffness, subclinical atherosclerosis, and myocardial function, respectively. Cardiovascular risk was estimated from the Framingham Heart Study. Serum levels of galectin-3 were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Galectin-3 was elevated in RA patients (n = 85) compared to controls (n = 39), but this difference was no longer significant after adjustment for the presence of cardiovascular comorbidities. In the univariate analysis, galectin-3 significantly correlated with markers of vascular stiffness (including pulse wave velocity, central blood pressure, central and peripheral pulse pressure, and total arterial compliance); atherosclerosis (carotid intima-media thickness); myocardial blood flow (cardiac output, stroke volume) and contractibility (acceleration and velocity index); systemic vascular resistance, and estimated cardiovascular risk. Multivariate analysis models revealed an independent association between galectin-3 and both cardiac output (β = -0.274, P = 0.039), as well as systemic vascular resistance (β = 0.266, P = 0.039).
In a relatively well-controlled cohort of RA patients with low-grade systemic inflammation and long-standing disease, serum galectin-3 might be useful as a marker of cardiac function and cardiovascular fibrosis.
半乳糖凝集素-3已成为心血管疾病患者心血管纤维化有前景的新型生物标志物。
我们研究了在类风湿关节炎（RA）这种伴有高心血管风险的疾病患者中，半乳糖凝集素-3是否与血管纤维化、亚临床动脉粥样硬化和心脏功能标志物相关。
RA患者和非RA个体分别接受压平眼压测量、颈动脉超声检查和阻抗心动图检查，以获取动脉僵硬度、亚临床动脉粥样硬化和心肌功能的标志物。根据弗雷明汉心脏研究评估心血管风险。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法测定血清半乳糖凝集素-3水平。
与对照组（n = 39）相比，RA患者（n = 85）的半乳糖凝集素-3水平升高，但在调整心血管合并症后，这种差异不再显著。在单变量分析中，半乳糖凝集素-3与血管僵硬度标志物（包括脉搏波速度、中心血压、中心和外周脉压以及总动脉顺应性）、动脉粥样硬化（颈动脉内膜中层厚度）、心肌血流量（心输出量、每搏输出量）和收缩性（加速度和速度指数）、全身血管阻力以及估计的心血管风险显著相关。多变量分析模型显示半乳糖凝集素-3与心输出量（β = -0.274，P = 0.039）以及全身血管阻力（β = 0.266，P = 0.039）均存在独立关联。
在一组相对病情控制良好、全身炎症程度低且病程长的RA患者中，血清半乳糖凝集素-3可能作为心脏功能和心血管纤维化的标志物。
