Galectin-3 level in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients and its relationship with response to antifibrotic treatment

Object: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic lung disease with characterized by progressive fibrosis. Galectin-3(Gal-3) is a B-galactoside binding lectin plays a central role in inflammation and fibrosis. In our study, we aimed to define levels of serum galectin-3 protein in IPF patients by comparing them with healthy subjects. We also aimed to show that galectin-3 concentrations can be used as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in the serum of IPF patients and that the use of galectin-3 inhibitors in combination with antifibrotic treatments may be useful in the therapeutic management of fibrosis. Methods: 44 patients with IPF and 35 control patients who were followed up in our outpatient clinic between 2016 and 2022 were evaluated, anamnesis, spirometric measurements and galectin-3 results were recorded. Patients were grouped according to their antifibrotic treatment. Results: The mean galectin-3 level in the patient group was 8.4 ng/ml and in the control group was 8.2 ng/ml. Serum levels were 8.9 ng/ml in pirfenidone users and 8.2 ng/ml in nintedanib users. Gal-3 was found to be higher in patients taking pirfenidone compared to nintedanib, but there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Galectin-3 levels were found to be slightly higher in IPF patients compared to healthy subjects. In addition, gal-3 levels decreased as the follow-up period increased in IPF patients in our study. Considering that the patients were receiving pirfenidone or nintedanib treatment during the follow-up period, it may be possible that galectin-3 levels decreased as exposure to these drugs increased. Further studies are needed to clarify these mechanisms.