Serum Galectin-3 level and recurrence of atrial fibrillation post-ablation – Systematic review and meta-analysis

BMI and atrial fibrillation recurrence post catheter ablation: A dose‐response meta‐analysis

“…Structural remodelling of the atrium facilitates a more established electrical remodelling which plays a role in development and maintenance of AF, as this structural remodelling becomes more established, due to chronicity of AF or extensive structural remodelling of the atria, increase in AF recurrence rates is seen in post ablation period. [40][41][42] Obesity plays a role in AF recurrence risk due to the left atrial enlargement that it causes. Obesity causes an increase in left atrial pressure, left atrial volume and is associated with diastolic dysfunction.…”

Galectins for Diagnosis and Prognostic Assessment of Human Diseases: An Overview of Meta-Analyses

“…Three different study groups performed similar meta-analyses to evaluate the relationship of galectin-3 with recurrence of atrial fibrillation [ 28 – 30 ]. Two of them found that patients with recurrence of atrial fibrillation had a significantly higher galectin-3 concentration than those without [ 28 , 29 ], but another did not find such a statistically significant difference in galectin-3 concentration between patients with and without recurrence of atrial fibrillation [ 30 ]. By comparison, all of them showed that a higher galectin-3 concentration was significantly related to recurrence of atrial fibrillation.…”

How Can Galectin-3 as a Biomarker of Fibrosis Improve Atrial Fibrillation Diagnosis and Prognosis?

“…Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most prevalent sustained cardiac arrhythmia in the world [1]. Its prevalence is almost twice as high as the observed in the past decade, but data about AF may be underestimated because the asymptomatic form is not diagnosed frequently [2].…”

“…The exact mechanism leading to atrial fibrosis still remains undefined, however, some studies demonstrated that the activation of the immune system and inflammatory response play a role in the physiopathology of atrial fibrosis [1,5]. In this scenario, galectin-3 (Gal-3) has been considered one of the possible substances contributing to cardiac fibrosis [5].…”

“…The role of Gal-3 in the pathogenesis of cardiac fibrosis involves macrophages and fibroblasts recruitment in the myocard, resulting in cell proliferation and collagen accumulation [5,9,10], and it plays a role in the electric atrial activity and structural remodeling [1]. Studies showed that high circulating Gal-3 concentrations were associated with an increased risk of developing AF [1,5,9,10]. Despite of inferences that point to Gal-3 playing a role in the atrial fibrosis and AF physiopathology, there is still a need for further understanding of the molecular basis and clinical associations of it [11,12] (Fig.…”