Clinical Hematology International

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Volume 1, Issue 4, December 2019, Pages 201 - 204

Elevated Galectin-3 Plasma Concentrations in Recipients of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Authors
Zachariah DeFilipp1, †, Nalu Navarro-Alvarez2, 3, 4, †, Shuli Li5, Alec R. Andrews2, Ariel Johnson7, Yi-Bin Chen1, Vincent T. Ho6, Jerome Ritz6, Thomas R. Spitzer1, Christene A. Huang2, 7, *
1Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
2Center for Transplantation Sciences, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
3Departamento de Gastroenterología, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, CDMX, Mexico
4Departamento de Biología Molecular, Universidad Panamericana, Escuela de Medicina, CDMX, Mexico
5Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA
6Division of Hematologic Malignancies, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
7Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Division of Transplant Surgery, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO
†

Both authors contributed equally to this work.

*Corresponding author. Email: christene.huang@ucdenver.edu
Corresponding Author
Christene A. Huang
Received 26 May 2019, Accepted 10 August 2019, Available Online 29 August 2019.
DOI
10.2991/chi.d.190823.001How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Galectin-3; Chronic graft-versus-host disease; Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation
Abstract

Galectin-3 is a beta-galactoside-binding lectin with an established association to inflammatory and fibrotic conditions. We investigated galectin-3 levels in 68 recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) to look for associations with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD). Plasma galectin-3 concentrations were measured at 1 year post-HCT and correlated with clinical data collected from individual medical records. The median serum galectin-3 level at that time point was 14.9 ng/mL (range, 5.5–61.6), which was significantly higher than that among healthy controls (14.9 versus 6.2, p < 0.001). Furthermore, patients with active cGVHD at the time of sample collection had higher median levels as compared to those without cGVHD (16.9 versus 13, p = 0.03). In a multivariable logistic model, there was no significant association between the presence of cGVHD at the date of sample collection and elevated galectin-3 levels (>14.9 ng/mL) (odds ratio [OR]: 2.03 (0.60, 6.88), p = 0.26). However, among patients with cGVHD at the date of sample collection, active systemic corticosteroid therapy was associated with elevated galectin-3 levels (OR: 20.32 (1.66, 249.39), p = 0.02). Furthermore, in a competing risk regression model, elevated galectin-3 levels at 1 year post-HCT were not associated with future development of moderate or severe cGVHD (OR: 1.24 (0.21, 7.45), p = 0.81). In conclusion, plasma galectin-3 concentrations are elevated in recipients of allo-HCT, especially among patients with cGVHD. Further investigation will be required to determine whether galectin-3 has a pathophysiologic role in cGVHD or serves as a marker of ongoing inflammation following allogeneic HCT.

Copyright
© 2019 International Academy for Clinical Hematology. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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<Previous Article In Issue
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Journal
Clinical Hematology International
Volume-Issue
1 - 4
Pages
201 - 204
Publication Date
2019/08/29
ISSN (Online)
2590-0048
DOI
10.2991/chi.d.190823.001How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2019 International Academy for Clinical Hematology. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - JOUR
AU  - Zachariah DeFilipp
AU  - Nalu Navarro-Alvarez
AU  - Shuli Li
AU  - Alec R. Andrews
AU  - Ariel Johnson
AU  - Yi-Bin Chen
AU  - Vincent T. Ho
AU  - Jerome Ritz
AU  - Thomas R. Spitzer
AU  - Christene A. Huang
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/08/29
TI  - Elevated Galectin-3 Plasma Concentrations in Recipients of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
JO  - Clinical Hematology International
SP  - 201
EP  - 204
VL  - 1
IS  - 4
SN  - 2590-0048
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/chi.d.190823.001
DO  - 10.2991/chi.d.190823.001
ID  - DeFilipp2019
ER  -