Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to determine the diagnostic and prognostic values of galectin-3 (Gal-3) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). METHODS: Patients with CKD (n=150) were enrolled as the CKD group, which was divided into six groups according to glomerular filtration rates (GFR) indexes. At the same time, 50 healthy adults were chosen for the control group (NC). Measured data included the levels of serum Gal-3, serum creatinine (SCr), β(2) -microglobulin (β(2) -MG), 24-hour urinary protein, cystatin C (CysC), serum albumin (Alb) and other related indicators. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between CKD and NC group in age, gender and the level of Alb. CKD group had lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) but higher Gal-3, CysC, SCr, β(2) MG and 24-hour urinary protein excretion than control group (P<.001). Moreover, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of Gal-3, CysC and SCr revealed that the corresponding areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.89, 0.83 and 0.85, respectively, and the AUC value of joint ROC curve of Gal-3, CysC and SCr was 0.96. In addition, the 6-year kidney survival rates of low Gal-3 group and high Gal-3 group were 47.3% and 22.8% respectively (HR=2.65; P<.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our study verified Gal-3, CysC and SCr were negatively related to eGFR. Besides, it is suggested that Gal-3 can be used as an indicating factor in the diagnosis of CKD; the joint analysis of Gal-3, CysC and SCr for CKD may distinctly improve diagnostic accuracy.