serum galectin-3 level in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Rheumatoid arthritis (ra) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by synovial tissue transformation and fibroblast-like synoviocyte (fls) proliferation. galectin-3 is gaining attention as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for ra diagnosis. elevated levels of galectin-3 cause ra-flss to stimulate and generate proinflammatory agents, contributing to cartilage degradation and osteoclast formation. this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate published evidence and support future investigation of galectin-3 as an early biomarker for ra. a systematic search was performed through four databases, including pubmed, the web of science, scopus, and embase, to find the studies examining galectin-3 in individuals with ra compared to healthy controls. the risk of bias was evaluated using the newcastle-ottawa quality assessment scale. random-effects meta-analysis comparing serum/plasma galectin-3 levels between individuals with ra and healthy control groups was performed to determine the standardized mean differences (smd) along with 95% confidence intervals. following the initial search, studies went through screening. 12 studies, involving 773 patients with ra and 411 healthy controls, were included. meta-analysis of the included studies revealed that individuals with ra had significantly higher levels of circulatory galectin-3 compared to healthy control groups (smd 0.957, 95% ci 0.393 to 1.520). univariable meta-regression showed no significant association between age, publication year, sample size, or the male percentage with effect size. according to the results, galectin-3 might be useful as a biomarker for ra. to support these findings, further investigations of galectin-3 as a possible early biomarker of ra is necessary.