Renal handling of galectin-3 in the general population, chronic heart failure, and hemodialysis

  • Wouter C. Meijers
  • , A. Rogier van der Velde
  • , Willem P. Ruifrok
  • , Nicolas F. Schroten
  • , Martin M. Dokter
  • , Kevin Damman
  • , Solmaz Assa
  • , Casper F. Franssen
  • , Ron T. Gansevoort
  • , Wiek H. van Gilst
  • , Herman H. Silljé
  • , Rudolf A. de Boer*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

61 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Background:

Galectin-3 is a biomarker for prognostication and risk stratification of patients with heart failure (HF). It has been suggested that renal function strongly relates to galectin-3 levels. We aimed to describe galectin-3 renal handling in HF. 

Methods and Results:

In Sprague-Dawley rats, we infused galectin-3 and studied distribution and renal clearance. Furthermore, galectin-3 was measured in urine and plasma of healthy controls, HF patients and hemodialysis patients. To mimic the human situation, we measured galectin-3 before and after the artificial kidney. Infusion in rats resulted in a clear increase in plasma and urine galectin-3. Plasma galectin-3 in HF patients (n=101; mean age 64 years; 93% male) was significantly higher compared to control subjects (n=20; mean age 58 years; 75% male) (16.6 ng/mL versus 9.7 ng/mL, P<0.001), while urinary galectin-3 in HF patients was comparable (28.1 ng/mL versus 35.1 ng/mL, P=0.830). The calculated galectin-3 excretion rate was lower in HF patient (2.3 mL/min [1.5 to 3.4] versus 3.9 mL/min [2.3 to 6.4] in control subjects; P=0.005). This corresponded with a significantly lower fractional excretion of galectin-3 in HF patients (2.4% [1.7 to 3.7] versus 3.0% [1.9 to 5.5]; P=0.018). These differences, however, were no longer significant after correction for age, gender, diabetes, and smoking. HF patients who received diuretics (49%) showed significantly higher aldosterone and galectin-3 levels. Hemodialysis patients (n=105; mean age 63 years; 65% male), without urinary galectin-3 excretion, had strongly increased median plasma galectin-3 levels (70.6 ng/mL). 

Conclusions:

In this small cross-sectional study, we report that urine levels of galectin-3 are not increased in HF patients, despite substantially increased plasma galectin-3 levels. The impaired renal handling of galectin-3 in patients with HF may explain the described relation between renal function and galectin-3 and may account for the elevated plasma galectin-3 in HF.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere000962
JournalJournal of the American Heart Association
Volume3
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 18 Sept 2014
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

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