Circulating Galectin‐3 Is Associated With Cardiometabolic Disease in the Community

BACKGROUND: Circulating Galectin‐3 (Gal‐3) concentrations are associated with an increased incidence of heart failure, atrial fibrillation, chronic kidney disease, and mortality. Recent evidence suggests that Gal‐3 may also be an important modulator of cardiometabolic traits such as adiposity, insulin resistance, and hyperglycemia. We examined the associations of blood Gal‐3 concentrations and cardiometabolic disease traits in the Framingham Heart Study. METHODS AND RESULTS: In cross‐sectional analyses of 2946 Framingham Heart Study participants (mean age 59 years, 55% women), higher Gal‐3 concentrations were associated with higher body mass index, waist circumference, and triglycerides (P<0.0001 for all). Higher Gal‐3 was associated with greater odds of obesity (multivariable‐adjusted odds ratio 1.16 per 1‐SD increase in log–Gal‐3, 95% CI 1.06–1.28, P=0.002) and hypertension (odds ratio 1.18, 95% CI 1.07–1.29, P=0.0006). In prospective analyses, Gal‐3 was associated with incident metabolic syndrome (hazard ratio 1.22, 95% CI 1.10–1.36, P=0.0002) and diabetes (hazard ratio 1.21, 95% CI 1.04–1.41, P=0.02), in age‐ and sex‐adjusted, but not multivariable‐adjusted models. CONCLUSIONS: In this large, community‐based sample, circulating Gal‐3 was associated with abdominal adiposity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension in cross‐sectional analyses, but Gal‐3 did not predict incident cardiometabolic disease after adjusting for cardiometabolic risk factors. Future investigations should focus on further elucidating mechanisms linking Gal‐3 with cardiometabolic disease and on assessing whether modulation of the Gal‐3 pathway might have positive cardiometabolic effects.