Galectin-3 as a potential prognostic biomarker of severe COVID-19 in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients

Cervantes-Álvarez, Eduardo; Limón-de la Rosa, Nathaly; Salgado-de la Mora, Moisés; Valdez-Sandoval, Paola; Palacios-Jiménez, Mildred; Rodríguez-Álvarez, Fátima; Vera-Maldonado, Brenda I.; Aguirre-Aguilar, Eduardo; Escobar-Valderrama, Juan Manuel; Alanis-Mendizabal, Jorge; Méndez-Guerrero, Osvely; Tejeda Domínguez, Farid; Torres-Ruíz, Jiram; Gómez-Martín, Diana; Colborn, Kathryn L.; Kershenobich, David; Huang, Christene A.; Navarro Álvarez, Nalu

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-05968-4

Galectin-3 as a potential prognostic biomarker of severe COVID-19 in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients

Journal

Scientific Reports

ISSN

2045-2322

Date Issued

2022

Author(s)

Cervantes-Álvarez, Eduardo

Limón-de la Rosa, Nathaly

Salgado-de la Mora, Moisés

Valdez-Sandoval, Paola

Palacios-Jiménez, Mildred

Rodríguez-Álvarez, Fátima

Vera-Maldonado, Brenda I.

Aguirre-Aguilar, Eduardo

Escobar-Valderrama, Juan Manuel

Alanis-Mendizabal, Jorge

Méndez-Guerrero, Osvely

Torres-Ruíz, Jiram

Gómez-Martín, Diana

Colborn, Kathryn L.

Kershenobich, David

Huang, Christene A.

Navarro Álvarez, Nalu

Type

Resource Types::text::journal::journal article

DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-05968-4

URL

https://scripta.up.edu.mx/handle/20.500.12552/2178

Abstract

Severe COVID-19 is associated with a systemic hyperinflammatory response leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), multi-organ failure, and death. Galectin-3 is a ß-galactoside binding lectin known to drive neutrophil infiltration and the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines contributing to airway inflammation. Thus, we aimed to investigate the potential of galectin-3 as a biomarker of severe COVID-19 outcomes. We prospectively included 156 patients with RT-PCR confirmed COVID-19. A severe outcome was defined as the requirement of invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and/or in-hospital death. A non-severe outcome was defined as discharge without IMV requirement. We used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine the prognostic ability of serum galectin-3 for a severe outcome. Galectin-3 levels discriminated well between severe and non-severe outcomes and correlated with markers of COVID-19 severity, (CRP, NLR, D-dimer, and neutrophil count). Using a forward-stepwise logistic regression analysis we identified galectin-3 [odds ratio (OR) 3.68 (95% CI 1.47–9.20), < 0.01] to be an independent predictor of severe outcome. Furthermore, galectin-3 in combination with CRP, albumin and CT pulmonary affection > 50%, had significantly improved ability to predict severe outcomes [AUC 0.85 (95% CI 0.79–0.91, < 0.0001)]. Based on the evidence presented here, we recommend clinicians measure galectin-3 levels upon admission to facilitate allocation of appropriate resources in a timely manner to COVID-19 patients at highest risk of severe outcome.