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Sustainable Development Goals
03 Saúde e Bem-EstarCollections
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EVALUATION OF GALECTIN-3 AS A NOVEL BIOMARKER FOR CHAGAS CARDIOMYOPATHY
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Abstract
Chagas cardiomyopathy has worse long-term outcomes than other cardiomyopathies. A biomarker strategy to refer subjects for noninvasive cardiac imaging may help in the early identification of cardiac damage in subjects with Chagas disease. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a mediator of cardiac fibrosis shown to be upregulated in animal models of decompensated heart failure. Here we assessed the correlation of Gal-3 with myocardial fibrosis in patients with Chagas disease. Methods: This study comprised 61 subjects with
Chagas disease. All subjects underwent clinical assessments,
Doppler echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging.
Plasmatic Gal-3 was determined by ELISA. Results: Delayed
enhancement (DE) was identified in 37 of 61 subjects
(64%). The total amount of myocardial fibrosis was 9.4% [interquartile
interval (IQI): 2.4–18.4]. No differences were observed
in Gal-3 concentration according to the presence or
absence of myocardial fibrosis, with a median Gal-3 concentration of 11.7 ng/ml (IQI: 9.4–15) in subjects with DE versus
12.9 ng/ml (IQI: 9.2–14) in subjects without DE (p = 0.18). No
correlation was found between myocardial fibrosis and Gal-
3 concentration (r = 0.098; p = 0.47). Conclusions: There is no
correlation between the degree of myocardial fibrosis and
the concentration of Gal-3 in subjects with Chagas disease
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