Galectin‐3 is Persistently Increased in Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Associates with Anti‐CCP Seropositivity and MRI Bone Lesions, While Early Fibrosis Markers Correlate with Disease Activity

Galectin‐3 has been suggested as a pro‐inflammatory mediator in animal arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We aimed to study the serum level of galectin‐3 in patients with newly diagnosed RA and associations with disease profile, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and seromarkers of synovial matrix inflammation. One hundred and sixty DMARD naïve patients newly diagnosed with RA were included (CIMESTRA study). Clinical, serological and imaging data were recorded before treatment and at 6 weeks, 3 and 12 months. Galectin‐3 and hyaluronan (HYA) were measured by ELISA (R&D and Corgenix, USA), and the N‐terminal propeptide of type III collagen (PIIINP) by radioimmunoassay (Orion Diagnostica, Finland). One hundred and nineteen, 87 and 60 blood donors served as controls for galectin‐3, HYA and PIIINP, respectively. Baseline galectin‐3 was significantly elevated in anti‐CCP positive (4.2 μg/l IQR [3.6;6.1]) patients as compared with anti‐CCP negatives (4.0 μg/l [2.6;4.9], P = 0.05) and controls (3.8 μg/l [3.0;4.8], P