Serum Galectin-3 levels and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in maintenance hemodialysis patients: a prospective cohort study

Higher serum galectin-3 levels are related to adverse outcomes in different disease states. However, the association of galectin-3 with mortality in the maintenance hemodialysis (HD) population has not been fully described. Thus, we aimed to assess the predictive significance of galectin-3 for all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality through a Chinese maintenance HD population. A prospective cohort study was conducted in five hundred and six patients with end-stage renal disease who underwent hemodialysis at Dalian Central Hospital before December 31, 2014. Serum galectin-3 levels were measured at baseline and classified as high (> 8.65 ng/ml) or low (≤ 8.65 ng/ml) according to the "X-tile" program. Primary and secondary outcomes were all-cause and CV mortality, respectively. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by the Cox proportional hazards regression models. During the median follow-up of 60 months, there were 188 all-cause deaths and 125 CV deaths. Compared with maintenance HD population with galectin-3 ≤ 8.65 ng/ml, the adjusted HR for all-cause mortality among those with galectin-3 > 8.65 ng/ml was 1.59 (CI: 0.96-2.65, p = 0.07). Furthermore, multivariable analysis showed that maintenance HD patients with galectin-3 > 8.65 ng/ml had a 2.13-fold higher risk of CV death than those with galectin-3 ≤ 8.65 ng/ml (HR = 2.13, 95% CI 1.07-4.26). Galectin-3 is an independent predictor of CV mortality in maintenance HD patients.