Correlation between galectin-3 and troponin I in COVID-19 ICU pa-tients: A pilot study on galectin-3

ABSTRACT

Due to its expression by macrophages, galectin-3 is among the most recently studied biomarkers. It is likely involved in the inflammatory process that leads to remodeling and eventually fibrosis of organs such as the heart, brain, and kidneys. Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infection causes excessive inflammatory reactions in the whole body, playing a role in the development of fibrosis due to the activation of the galectin-3-macrophage-fibroblast axis. Heart failure or cardiac dysfunction occurred not only due to pro-inflammatory activation but also due to the overactivation of sympathetic nerves and failure of the respiratory system. The latter increases. the possibility of direct infection or necrosis of the heart due to the heart-lung interaction observed in our pilot study. Forty-five intensive care unit (ICU) patients were recruited consecu-tively in this study to be observed their galectin-3 and troponin I levels. This pilot study demonstrates the correlation between galectin-3 as a proinflammatory biomark-er and troponin I as a definitive biomarker for direct heart injury and highlights its potential use in COVID-19 patients. With the assessment of appropriate biomarkers such as cardiac fibro-sis markers, possible worsening of cardiac conditions in COVID-19 patients treated in the ICU can be detected in its early stages.