Abstract
BACKGROUND: Circulating galectin-3 levels provide prognostic information in patients with established heart failure (HF), but the associations between galectin-3 levels and other incident cardiovascular events in asymptomatic individuals at midlife and when remeasured ≈15 years later are largely uncharacterized. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, we identified associations between plasma galectin-3 levels (hazard ratio [HR] per 1 SD increase in natural log galectin-3) and incident coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, HF hospitalization, and total mortality in ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) participants free of cardiovascular disease at ARIC visit 4 (1996–1998; n=9247) and at ARIC visit 5 (2011–2013; n=4829). Higher galectin-3 level at visit 4 (median age 62) was independently associated with incident coronary heart disease (adjusted HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.06–1.60), ischemic stroke (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.01–2.00), HF (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.17–1.76), and mortality (HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.35–1.80). At visit 5 (median age, 74), higher galectin-3 level was associated with incident HF (HR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.15–3.24) and total mortality (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.15–2.52), but not coronary heart disease or stoke. Individuals with the greatest increase in galectin-3 levels from visit 4 to visit 5 were also at increased risk of incident HF and total mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In a large, biracial community-based cohort, galectin-3 measured at midlife and older age was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. An increase in galectin-3 levels over this period was also associated with increased risk.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e015405 |
| Journal | Journal of the American Heart Association |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 13 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 7 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 The Authors.
Funding
Dr Hoogeveen received a research grant from Denka Seiken (significant). Drs Hoogeveen, Nambi, and Ballantyne are named on provisional patent no. 61721475 entitled “Biomarkers to Improve Prediction of Heart Failure Risk” filed by Baylor College of Medicine and Roche (modest). Dr Shah reports receiving research support from Novartis and consulting fees from Bellerophon Therapeutics and Philips Ultrasound. Dr Ballantyne has received consulting fees from Abbott and Roche (modest). This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (contract numbers HHSN268201100005C, HHSN268201100006C, HHSN268201100007C, HHSN268201100008C, HHSN268201100009C, HHSN268201100010C, HHSN268201100011C, and HHSN268201100012C and grant numbers K24DK106414 to Dr Selvin; R01DK089174 to Dr Selvin; R01HL134320 to Drs Selvin, Matsushita, and Ballantyne; K08HL116792 to Dr Shah, R01HL135008 to Dr Shah, and R01HL143224 to Dr Shah); American Heart Association (grant number 17MCPRP33400031 to Dr McEvoy); and Brigham and Women’s Heart and Vascular Center (Watkins Discovery Award to Dr McEvoy). Biomarker measurements were supported by Abbott (galec-tin-3) and Roche (NT-proBNP and hs-TnT) through grants to Baylor College of Medicine for the cost of assays.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Denka Seiken | |
| NT-proBNP | |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | K08HL116792, R01HL134320, K24DK106414, HHSN268201100011C, R01DK089174, R01HL135008 |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | |
| National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) | R01HL143224 |
| National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) | |
| American the American Heart Association | 17MCPRP33400031, galec-tin-3 |
| American the American Heart Association | |
| Roche Diagnostics | |
| Baylor College of Medicine |
Keywords
- Adverse cardiovascular events
- Galectin-3
- Heart failure
- Prognosis
- Risk
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
