Can Galectin-3 be a reliable predictive biomarker for post-COVID syndrome development?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Reliable biomarkers able to predict post-COVID syndrome development are still lacking. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between Galectin-3 blood concentrations and the development of post-COVID syndrome.

METHODS

We performed a single-center, prospective, observational study, enrolling 437 consecutive patients attending our outpatient clinic for the post-COVID assessment. For each patient, we recorded the main clinical, functional and radiological findings. We also dosed several blood biomarkers which have been related to COVID-19 disease, including Galectin-3. We performed Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and multivariate regression analysis to evaluate the predictive performance of Galectin-3 for post-COVID syndrome development.

RESULTS

Among the blood biomarkers tested, Galectin-3 resulted the only one correlated with the outcome, although the insufficient performance of the Cox regression model from a statistical standpoint. Correlation coefficients and ROC curves analysis revealed the close relationship between Galectin-3 levels and the time passed from the acute phase of COVID-19 disease, suggesting a possible predictive role for this biomarker when dosed from 60 to 120 days after the infection.

CONCLUSIONS

Galectin-3 could play an important role as predictive biomarker for COVID-19 sequelae, but its evaluation must be carefully planned along the follow up to avoid misinterpretations.