Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Medicina, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde: Medicina Tropical e Doenças Infecciosas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Faculdade de Farmácia, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2022 Jun 24;64:e45. doi: 10.1590/S1678-9946202264045. eCollection 2022.
Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy (CCC) is the most prevalent type of myocarditis and the main clinical form of the Chagas disease, which has peculiarities such as focal inflammation, structural derangement, hypertrophy, dilation, and intense reparative fibrosis. Many cellular compounds contribute to CCC development. Galectin-3 is a partaker in inflammation and contributes to myocardial fibrosis formation. Some studies showed the connection between Galectin-3 and fibrosis in Chagas disease but are still inconclusive on the guidance for the early implementation of pharmacological therapy. This systematic review evaluated Galectin-3 as a biomarker for fibrosis intensity in CCC. Two independent reviewers have searched five databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Lilacs), using the following search terms: galectin-3, biomarkers, fibrosis, Chagas cardiomyopathy, and Chagas disease. Overall, seven studies met the inclusion criteria and made up this review. There were four trials conducted through animal model experiments and three trials with humans. Experimental data in mice indicate an association between Galectin-3 expression and fibrosis in CCC (75% of studies). Data from human studies showed no direct connection between myocardial fibrosis and Galectin-3 expression (80% of studies). Thus, human findings do not provide significant evidence indicating that Galectin-3 is related to fibrosis formation in Chagas disease. Based on the analyzed studies, it is suggested that Galectin-3 might not be a good fibrosis marker in CCC.
慢性 Chagas 心肌病（CCC）是最常见的心肌炎类型，也是 Chagas 病的主要临床形式，具有局灶性炎症、结构紊乱、肥大、扩张和强烈修复性纤维化等特点。许多细胞化合物有助于 CCC 的发展。半乳糖凝集素-3 是炎症的参与者，并有助于心肌纤维化的形成。一些研究表明半乳糖凝集素-3与 Chagas 病中的纤维化之间存在联系，但对于早期实施药物治疗的指导仍然没有定论。本系统评价评估了半乳糖凝集素-3作为 CCC 纤维化强度的生物标志物。两名独立评审员在五个数据库（PubMed、EMBASE、Cochrane 图书馆、Scopus 和 Lilacs）中搜索了以下搜索词：半乳糖凝集素-3、生物标志物、纤维化、Chagas 心肌病和 Chagas 病。共有 7 项研究符合纳入标准，构成了本综述。其中 4 项试验是通过动物模型实验进行的，3 项试验是在人类中进行的。小鼠的实验数据表明，Galectin-3 表达与 CCC 中的纤维化之间存在关联（75%的研究）。来自人类研究的数据表明，心肌纤维化与 Galectin-3 表达之间没有直接联系（80%的研究）。因此，人类研究结果并未提供表明 Galectin-3 与 Chagas 病纤维化形成有关的重要证据。基于分析的研究，表明 Galectin-3 可能不是 CCC 中纤维化的良好标志物。
