Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19
Severe COVID-19 is related to hyperinflammation and multiple organ injury, including respiratory failure, thus requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Galectin-3, a carbohydrate-binding protein exhibiting pleiotropic effects, has been previously recognized to participate in inflammation, the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/21/15833 |
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| author | Ioanna Nikitopoulou Alice G. Vassiliou Nikolaos Athanasiou Edison Jahaj Karolina Akinosoglou Ioanna Dimopoulou Stylianos E. Orfanos Vasiliki Dimakopoulou Georgios Schinas Argyrios Tzouvelekis Vassilis Aidinis Anastasia Kotanidou |
| author_facet | Ioanna Nikitopoulou Alice G. Vassiliou Nikolaos Athanasiou Edison Jahaj Karolina Akinosoglou Ioanna Dimopoulou Stylianos E. Orfanos Vasiliki Dimakopoulou Georgios Schinas Argyrios Tzouvelekis Vassilis Aidinis Anastasia Kotanidou |
| author_sort | Ioanna Nikitopoulou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Severe COVID-19 is related to hyperinflammation and multiple organ injury, including respiratory failure, thus requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Galectin-3, a carbohydrate-binding protein exhibiting pleiotropic effects, has been previously recognized to participate in inflammation, the immune response to infections and fibrosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between galectin-3 and the clinical severity of COVID-19, as well as assess the prognostic accuracy of galectin-3 for the probability of ICU mortality. The study included 235 COVID-19 patients with active disease, treated in two different Greek hospitals in total. Our results showed that median galectin-3 serum levels on admission were significantly increased in critical COVID-19 patients (7.2 ng/mL), as compared to the median levels of patients with less severe disease (2.9 ng/mL, <i>p</i> = 0.003). Galectin-3 levels of the non-survivors hospitalized in the ICU were significantly higher than those of the survivors (median 9.1 ng/mL versus 5.8 ng/mL, <i>p</i> = 0.001). The prognostic accuracy of galectin-3 for the probability of ICU mortality was studied with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and a multivariate analysis further demonstrated that galectin-3 concentration at hospital admission could be assumed as an independent risk factor associated with ICU mortality. Our results were validated with galectin-3 measurements in a second patient cohort from a different Greek university hospital. Our results, apart from strongly confirming and advancing previous knowledge with two patient cohorts, explore the possibility of predicting ICU mortality, which could provide useful information to clinicians. Therefore, galectin-3 seems to establish its involvement in the prognosis of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, suggesting that it could serve as a promising biomarker in critical COVID-19. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:29:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ce22888c668b461d96f7b3d01ac14e6e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T11:29:08Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-ce22888c668b461d96f7b3d01ac14e6e2023-11-10T15:05:28ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672023-10-0124211583310.3390/ijms242115833Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19Ioanna Nikitopoulou0Alice G. Vassiliou1Nikolaos Athanasiou2Edison Jahaj3Karolina Akinosoglou4Ioanna Dimopoulou5Stylianos E. Orfanos6Vasiliki Dimakopoulou7Georgios Schinas8Argyrios Tzouvelekis9Vassilis Aidinis10Anastasia Kotanidou111st Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece1st Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece1st Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece1st Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, GreeceDivision of Internal Medicine, University General Hospital of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece1st Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece1st Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, GreeceDivision of Internal Medicine, University General Hospital of Patras, 26504 Patras, GreeceDivision of Internal Medicine, University General Hospital of Patras, 26504 Patras, GreeceDepartment of Respiratory Medicine, University General Hospital of Patras, 26504 Patras, GreeceInstitute of Fundamental Biomedical Research, Biomedical Sciences Research Center Alexander Fleming, 16672 Athens, Greece1st Department of Critical Care Medicine & Pulmonary Services, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, GreeceSevere COVID-19 is related to hyperinflammation and multiple organ injury, including respiratory failure, thus requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. Galectin-3, a carbohydrate-binding protein exhibiting pleiotropic effects, has been previously recognized to participate in inflammation, the immune response to infections and fibrosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between galectin-3 and the clinical severity of COVID-19, as well as assess the prognostic accuracy of galectin-3 for the probability of ICU mortality. The study included 235 COVID-19 patients with active disease, treated in two different Greek hospitals in total. Our results showed that median galectin-3 serum levels on admission were significantly increased in critical COVID-19 patients (7.2 ng/mL), as compared to the median levels of patients with less severe disease (2.9 ng/mL, <i>p</i> = 0.003). Galectin-3 levels of the non-survivors hospitalized in the ICU were significantly higher than those of the survivors (median 9.1 ng/mL versus 5.8 ng/mL, <i>p</i> = 0.001). The prognostic accuracy of galectin-3 for the probability of ICU mortality was studied with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and a multivariate analysis further demonstrated that galectin-3 concentration at hospital admission could be assumed as an independent risk factor associated with ICU mortality. Our results were validated with galectin-3 measurements in a second patient cohort from a different Greek university hospital. Our results, apart from strongly confirming and advancing previous knowledge with two patient cohorts, explore the possibility of predicting ICU mortality, which could provide useful information to clinicians. Therefore, galectin-3 seems to establish its involvement in the prognosis of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, suggesting that it could serve as a promising biomarker in critical COVID-19.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/21/15833COVID-19galectin-3mortalitycritically ill |
| spellingShingle | Ioanna Nikitopoulou Alice G. Vassiliou Nikolaos Athanasiou Edison Jahaj Karolina Akinosoglou Ioanna Dimopoulou Stylianos E. Orfanos Vasiliki Dimakopoulou Georgios Schinas Argyrios Tzouvelekis Vassilis Aidinis Anastasia Kotanidou Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19 International Journal of Molecular Sciences COVID-19 galectin-3 mortality critically ill |
| title | Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19 |
| title_full | Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19 |
| title_fullStr | Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19 |
| title_short | Increased Levels of Galectin-3 in Critical COVID-19 |
| title_sort | increased levels of galectin 3 in critical covid 19 |
| topic | COVID-19 galectin-3 mortality critically ill |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/21/15833 |
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