title: Galectin-3 increase in endurance athletes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Galectin-3 is a new and promising biomarker for heart failure and myocardial fibrosis. Although endurance exercise is a crucial element in cardiovascular disease prevention, the relationship between exercise and plasma levels of galectin-3 is still unknown. To date, the relationship between regular exercise and myocardial fibrosis is not fully understood. This study investigates the relationship between endurance exercise and plasma levels of galectin-3.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one male, healthy non-elite marathon runners were examined before and within 1 hour after a strenuous run of 30 km after 4-day training abstinence. Examination included blood samples for galectin-3, echocardiography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR). In addition, to distinguish between cardiac or skeletal muscular origin of galectin-3, 27 C57Bl/6 J mice performing voluntary wheel running and 25 sedentary mice were analysed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma galectin-3 in endurance athletes increased from baseline to post exercise (12.8 ± 3.4 ng/ml to 19.9 ± 3.9 ng/ml, p < 0.001) while the systolic left and right ventricular function remained unchanged. Interestingly, baseline plasma levels of galectin-3 were in normal range but higher than in healthy sedentary controls. However, in CMR there was no correlation between baseline galectin-3 levels and the detection of myocardial fibrosis. In animal studies, the relative level of mRNA for galectin-3 in active mice was significantly higher compared to sedentary mice. This increase was most pronounced in skeletal muscle (98.0% higher, p < 0.001) and not in the myocardium of the left ventricle (19.9% higher, p = 0.043).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma galectin-3 is substantially elevated in endurance athletes after running but does not correlate with cardiac function, other biomarkers, or myocardial fibrosis. In mice, we demonstrate that galectin-3 increase during endurance exercise originates primarily from skeletal muscle.
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hättasch
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany Bundeswehrkrankenhaus Berlin, Innere Medizin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spethmann
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rudolf A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Willem P T
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Ruifrok
authors.affiliation: HELIOS Klinikum Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schattke
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Moritz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schroeckh
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Tahir
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Durmus
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Ingolf
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schimke
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Wasiem
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sanad
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.affiliation: HELIOS Klinikum Emil von Behring, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Adrian C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.affiliation: Charité Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany fabian.knebel@charite.de.
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Knebel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D056352:Athletes; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001798:Blood Proteins; D004452:Echocardiography; D005355:Fibrosis; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D037161:Galectins; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010807:Physical Endurance; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012420:Running; D013599:Systole; D013997:Time Factors; D015854:Up-Regulation; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left; D016278:Ventricular Function, Right
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001798:Blood Proteins; D037502:Galectin 3; D037161:Galectins; C428445:LGALS3 protein, human; C485095:Lgals3 protein, mouse; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Athletes; biomarker; endurance exercise; galectin-3; heart failure