Introduction/Objectives

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a circulating biomarker of fibrosis. In humans, increased Gal-3 is predictive of myocardial fibrosis and adverse cardiac events. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential for Gal-3 as a cardiac biomarker in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Materials and methods

Eighty cats were enrolled (25 healthy cats with normal hearts, 35 with HCM American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) stage B, and 21 with HCM ACVIM stage C). Each cat received a full echocardiogram, health panel, and total thyroxin level. Galectin-3 levels were measured for each enrolled patient. Troponin I and N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were obtained for the majority of cats. Additionally, 17 ACVIM stage B cats underwent cardiac-gated magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to assess myocardial extracellular volume (ECV), a noninvasive measure of myocardial fibrosis.

Results

Galectin-3 levels are increased in cats with HCM ACVIM stage B and C compared to healthy cats; however, no significant differences were detected between ACVIM stage B and ACVIM stage C cats. In HCM-affected cats, Galectin-3 showed statistically significant correlations with left atrial dimensions, left atrial:aorta ratio, and CMR-derived ECV. Quantitative NT-proBNP showed excellent discrimination between all groups and troponin I was able to discriminate between ACVIM stage C and normal cats, but not between other groups.

Conclusions

Circulating Gal-3 levels are increased in cats with HCM and is positively correlated with left atrial dimensions and ECV in affected cats. Further studies evaluating the relationship between Gal-3, myocardial fibrosis, and clinical outcomes are warranted.

中文翻译：

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Galectin-3 作为肥厚型心肌病猫的新型生物标志物

简介/目标

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) 是纤维化的循环生物标志物。在人类中，Gal-3 升高可预测心肌纤维化和不良心脏事件。本研究的目的是评估 Gal-3 作为肥厚型心肌病 (HCM) 猫心脏生物标志物的潜力。

材料和方法

招募了 80 只猫（25 只心脏正常的健康猫，35 只 HCM 美国兽医内科医学院(ACVIM) B 期猫，21 只 HCM ACVIM C 期猫）。每只猫都接受了完整的超声心动图、健康检查和总甲状腺素水平。测量每位入组患者的 Galectin-3 水平。大多数猫都获得了肌钙蛋白 I 和 N 末端脑钠肽前体 (NT-proBNP)。此外，17 只 ACVIM B 期猫接受了心脏门控磁共振 (CMR) 成像，以评估心肌细胞外容量 (ECV)，这是一种心肌纤维化的无创测量方法。

结果

与健康猫相比，HCM ACVIM B 期和 C 期猫的 Galectin-3 水平升高；然而，ACVIM B 期和 ACVIM C 期猫之间没有检测到显着差异。在受 HCM 影响的猫中，Galectin-3 显示与左心房尺寸、左心房：主动脉比率和 CMR 衍生的 ECV 具有统计学显着相关性。定量 NT-proBNP 在所有组之间显示出出色的区分度，肌钙蛋白 I 能够区分 ACVIM C 期猫和正常猫，但不能区分其他组。

结论

患有 HCM 的猫的循环 Gal-3 水平升高，并且与受影响的猫的左心房尺寸和 ECV 呈正相关。需要进一步研究评估 Gal-3、心肌纤维化和临床结果之间的关系。