Galectin-3 in ambulatory patients with heart failure: results from the HF-ACTION study.
Journal Article (Journal Article;Multicenter Study)
BACKGROUND: Galectin-3 is a soluble ß-galactoside-binding lectin released by activated cardiac macrophages. Elevated levels of galectin-3 have been found to be associated with adverse outcomes in patients with heart failure. We evaluated the association between galectin-3 and long-term clinical outcomes in ambulatory heart failure patients enrolled in the HF-ACTION study. METHODS AND RESULTS: HF-ACTION was a randomized, controlled trial of exercise training in patients with chronic heart failure caused by left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Galectin-3 was assessed at baseline in a cohort of 895 HF-ACTION subjects with stored plasma samples available. The association between galectin-3 and clinical outcomes was assessed using a series of Cox proportional hazards models. Higher galectin-3 levels were associated with other measures of heart failure severity, including higher New York Heart Association class, lower systolic blood pressure, higher creatinine, higher amino-terminal proB-type natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP), and lower maximal oxygen consumption. In unadjusted analysis, there was a significant association between elevated galectin-3 levels and hospitalization-free survival (unadjusted hazard ratio, 1.14 per 3-ng/mL increase in galectin-3; P<0.0001). In multivariable modeling, the prognostic impact of galectin-3 was significantly attenuated by the inclusion of other known predictors, and galectin-3 was no longer a significant predictor after the inclusion of NTproBNP. CONCLUSIONS: Galectin-3 is elevated in ambulatory heart failure patients and is associated with poor functional capacity and other known measures of heart failure severity. In univariate analysis, galectin-3 was significantly predictive of long-term outcomes, but this association did not persist after adjustment for other predictors, especially NTproBNP. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00047437.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Felker, GM; Fiuzat, M; Shaw, LK; Clare, R; Whellan, DJ; Bettari, L; Shirolkar, SC; Donahue, M; Kitzman, DW; Zannad, F; Piña, IL; O'Connor, CM
Published Date
- January 2012
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 5 / 1
Start / End Page
- 72 - 78
PubMed ID
- 22016505
Pubmed Central ID
- PMC3261343
Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)
- 1941-3297
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.111.963637
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States