Predictive value of plasma galectin-3 in patients with chronic heart failure

AIM : Tostudythepredictiveval- ue of plasma galectin-3 in patients with chronic heartfailure(CHF). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with CHF (New York Heart Association functional class II-IV) caused by coronary heart disease were recruited. The levels of plasma galectin-3 and NT-proBNP were measured by enzyme- linked immuno sorbent assay. Echocardiogra - phy was performed to determine the diastolic left atrial diameter (LAD), left ventricular end- diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the prognostic value of galectin-3 or NT-proB - NPforCHF. RESULTS: Thelevelofgalectin-3wassignificant- ly higher in NYHA functional class III and IV com - paredwiththatincontrol( p<0.05and p<0.01,re - spectively). The level of plasma galectin-3 was positively correlated with LAD (r = 0.271, p < 0.05) andLVEDD(r=0.480, p<0.01),butnegativelycor - relatedwithLVEF(r=-0.683, p<0.01).Thelevelof plasma NT-proBNP was positively correlated with LAD(r=0.481, p<0.01)andLVEDD(r=0.270, p< 0.05), but negatively correlated with LVEF (r = - 0.516, p < 0.01). AUC was 0.798 when the level of plasma galectin-3 was more than 7.52 ng/ml. The sensitivity to predict CHF was 62.9%, and the specificitywas90%.AUCwas0.901whenthelevel of plasma NT-proBNP was more than 1143 pg/ml. The sensitivity to predict CHF was 92.8% and the specificitywas85%. CONCLUSIONS: The level of plasma galectin-3 is related to the changes of left ventricular struc - ture and function, indicating that galectin-3 may havebeeninvolvedintheprocessofleftventricu - larremodelinginCHF.Thespecificityofgalectin-3 to predict CHF is higher than NT-proBNP, but not thesensitivity.