Value and level of galectin-3 in acute myocardial infarction patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention

Aim: this study investigated the impact of the circulating galectin-3 level on the 30-day prognostic outcome in patients with st-segment elevation myocardial infarction (stemi) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pci). methods: from may 2009 to march 2011,blood samples for assessment of the circulating galectin-3 level were collected from 196 consecutive stemi patients treated by primary pci and from 30 healthy volunteers. results: the galectin-3 level was determined using elisa. our results demonstrated that the circulating level of galectin-3 was significantly higher in stemi patients than in healthy control subjects (p<0.001). as compared with patients with galectin-3 <7.67 ng/ml,patients with galectin-3 ≥7.67 ng/ml were significantly older,had significantly lower left ventricular ejection fraction and significantly higher frequency of elevated white blood cell count,advanced killip score (defined as ≥ score 3),congestive heart failure (defined as ≥ new york heart association functional class iii),respiratory failure,unstable hemodynamics requiring a mechanical ventilator and intra-aortic balloon pump support,multiple vessel diseases and 30-day mortality (all p<0.04). furthermore,multivariate analysis showed that elevated circulating level of galectin-3 was the strongest independent predictor of the combined 30-day major adverse clinical outcome (maco) (defined as advanced chf or 30-day mortality) (p<0.0001). conclusion: a high circulating galectin-3 level may serve as a useful biomarker for predicting 30-day maco in patients with stemi undergoing primary pci.