title: Relationship of galectin-3 with obesity, IL-6, and CRP in women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association of galectin-3 (Gal3) with obesity and inflammatory status in a cohort of metabolically healthy, predominantly African-American women with varying cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk as determined by CRP levels.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed the association between BMI and serum levels of Gal3, IL-6, CRP, and adiponectin in metabolically healthy women (N = 97) to determine the overall association between Gal3, obesity, and inflammation in groups at different CVD risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Obese women had significantly higher serum Gal3 compared to non-obese participants (P = 0.0016), although Gal3 levels were comparable among different classes of obesity. BMI (R2= 0.1406, P = 0.0013), IL-6 (R2= 0.0689, P = 0.035), and CRP (R2= 0.0468, P = 0.0419), but not adiponectin, positively predicted the variance of Gal3 levels in the total study population. However, the predicting effect of BMI (R2= 0.2923, P = 0.0125) and inflammation (R2= 0.3138, P = 0.038) on Gal3 was only present in women at low/moderate risk of CVD (CRP ≤ 3 µg/mL).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gal3 is positively correlated with obesity and inflammation in women, while the presence of elevated CVD risk may disturb the strength of Gal3 as a biomarker of inflammation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
authors.forename: V T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Braunschweig
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA. giamila@uic.edu.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fantuzzi
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D037502:Galectin 3 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D037502:Galectin 3; D015850:Interleukin-6; D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: CRP; Cytokines; Inflammation; Obesity; Women