Insights into the Role of Galectin-3 as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker of Atrial Fibrillation

Table 1

Gal-3 in patients with AF and CAD.

Study	Study design	CAD	Population	Study group	Control group	Sample size	Age	Main findings
Wang et al. [108]	Retrospective cohort	MI	Hospitalized patients with AMI	NOAF (N = 18)	Sinus rhythm (N = 199)	217	58.3 ± 10.7	Plasma levels of Gal-3 were significantly increased in AMI patients with NOAF and is an independent predictor of NOAF
Pavlović et al. [102]	Prospective case–control	MI	Non-ST elevation acute MI	Preexisting AF (N = 22)	Sinus rhythm (N = 32)	54	68.1 ± 11.0	Gal-3 plasma levels in patients with the first acute NSTEMI were significantly higher in preexisting AF patients compared to non-AF patients. Gal-3 levels also have shown a significant and independent predictive value of recurrence after RF ablation for AF
Kalstad et al. [103]	Retrospective cohort	AMI	Hospitalized elderly patients with AMI	Preexisting AF (N = 38)	Sinus rhythm (N = 261)	299	75 (72–78)	They found no association between Gal-3 levels and the presence of AF in AMI patients
Stanojevic et al. [104]	Retrospective cohort	AMI	Patients with first AMI without revascularization history	Permanent/persistent AF (N = 27) and paroxysmal AF (N = 24)	Sinus rhythm (N = 38)	89	66.3 ± 11.3	Gal-3 and hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in AMI patients with AF compared to those without permanent/persistent/paroxysmal AF
Alexandre et al. [105]	Prospective cohort	Cardiac surgery	LVEF > 50% requiring elective CABG	POAF (N = 34)	Sinus rhythm (N = 103)	137	67.2 ± 10.7	Gal-3 levels were significantly higher in the POAF group compared to sinus rhythm (14.5 ng/mL (9.2–15.6) vs. 7.4 ng/mL (5.5–8.3); p-value = 0.002)
Richter et al. [106]	Prospective cohort	Cardiac surgery	Elective heart surgery	POAF (N = 200)	Sinus rhythm (N = 275)	475	67.4 ± 11.8	Preoperative Gal-3 levels were significantly higher in the POAF group compared to patients without POAF (9.60 ± 6.83 ng/mL vs. 7.10 ± 3.54 ng/mL; p-value < 0.001)
Doulamis et al. [107]	Retrospective cohort	Cardiac surgery	Advanced CAD candidates for cardiac surgery	Chronic AF (N = 22)	Sinus rhythm (N = 101) and healthy controls (N = 20)	143	64.2 ± 11.9	An optimal pair of cytokines, including Gal-3 and others (e.g., CXL-10, CXCL-10, GDF-15, and RETN), exhibited the highest MCC (Matthews’ correlation coefficient) values

Note: Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation or median (interquartile range). CAD, coronary artery disease; AMI, acute myocardial infarction; MI, myocardial infarction; Gal-3, galectin-3; AF, atrial fibrillation; NSTEMI , non-ST elevation myocardial infarction; RF, radiofrequency; CRP, C-reactive protein; NOAF, new-onset atrial fibrillation; POAF, postoperative atrial fibrillation; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; CABG, coronary artery bypass grafting.