Galectins 1, 3 and 9 in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: is there an association with disease activity or clinical manifestations?

Objective. To compare serum concentrations of galectins 1, 3 and 9 in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and healthy donors; to assess the relationship of these biomarkers with disease activity and specific clinical manifestations.
Material and methods. This cross-sectional study included women with SLE (n=121) and women without immune-inflammatory rheumatic diseases (n=21; control group). Serum levels of galectins 1, 3 and 9 were measured using enzyme-linked immunoassay (Cloud-Clone Corp., China).
Results and discussion. Levels of all three galectins were higher in SLE patients compared with the control group. Weak correlations were found between SLEDAI-2K and galectin 1 (r=0.33, p=0.0003) and galectin 3 (r=0.26, p=0.005), and between the damage index and galectin 3 (r=0.2, p=0.04). In patients with SLE and cutaneous involvement, arthritis, or hemolytic anemia, serum galectin 1 was higher than in patients without these manifestations. Women with nephritis and serositis had higher galectin 3 concentrations than those without such features. Patients with SLE and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) had lower galectin 1 levels, whereas those with secondary Sjцgren’s syndrome (SS) had higher concentrations of galectins 3 and 9. Anti-dsDNA antibody levels correlated with galectin 1 (r=0.19, p=0.039), galectin 3 (r=0.2, p=0.027), and galectin 9 (r=0.19, p=0.034) concentrations, while C3 and C4 complement levels correlated only with galectin 9 concentrations (r=-0.19, p=0.04 and r=-0.18, p=0.045, respectively).
Conclusion. Serum concentrations of galectins 1, 3 and 9 are elevated in women with SLE. Levels of galectins 1 and 3 show weak associations with SLE activity, while galectin 3 levels correlates with the severity of irreversible damage. Certain clinical features of SLE are associated with higher levels of these biomarkers: for galectin 1 – cutaneous involvement, arthritis, hemolytic anemia, absence of APS; for galectin 3 – nephritis, serositis and SS; for galectin 9 – SS.

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