The role of serum Galectin-3 levels in patients with sarcoidosis

introduction: Galectin-3 is a multi-functional protein and previous studies have suggested that levels of serum galectin-3 increase in the presence of diseases that progress with pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, the role of galectin-3 levels in the staging and assessing of the severity of sarcoidosis is investigated in the present study. Methods and Subjects: The present study was conducted on a total of 73 subjects, including 25 healthy individuals and 48 patients with a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of sarcoidosis in which other potential causes had been ruled out. Galectin-3 levels of all subjects were measured and compa red in terms of such parameters as hemogram, biochemistry, age, body mass index and smoking status. Intervention: In our study, no intervention was made to the patients. Main Outcome Measures: The mean galectin-3 levels of the sarcoidosis patients (14.87±5.57) were significantly higher than those measured in the healthy subjects (11.81± 2.67), and themean galectin-3 levels differed significantly among those at different stages of the disease (p
Source: Medical Principles and Practice - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research