High serum levels of galectins 1 and 4 in osteoarthritis patients

Background: Although immunostaining of galectins is associated with cartilage damage, the serum levels of these lectins in osteoarthritis (OA) are not fully understood.

Objective: Therefore, we evaluate the concentrations of galectins-1, 3, 4, and 7 in patients with osteoarthritis and correlate them with clinical parameters.

Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 60 osteoarthritis patients and 43 healthy volunteers, who had serum samples collected for galectins titration by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).

Results: Our finds showed that the median values of gal-1 and 4 serum levels in patients were statistically higher (13,990 and 969.1 pg/mL, respectively) than in healthy controls (1,798 and 519.5 pg/mL) with p < 0.001. Further, gal-1 expressed higher levels in patients who had joint edema at the time of collection with a median value of 14,970 pg/mL.

Conclusion: Surprisingly, galectin-4 appears to be involved in the osteoarthritis inflammation process as the well-known galectin-1.