Description:
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<jats:bold>Introduction:</jats:bold>
Galectin-4 (Gal-4) is a small protein in the gastrointestinal tract. It has been implicated in diabetes mellitus, incident coronary events, incident heart failure as well as all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. However, possible associations of Gal-4 with stroke have not yet been examined.
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<jats:bold>Hypothesis:</jats:bold>
We explored if Gal-4 is associated with prevalent and incident stroke in a large population cohort.
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<jats:bold>Methods:</jats:bold>
Gal-4 was analyzed by the proximity extension assay technique in 1737 participants from a subsample of the population-based Malmö Preventive Project (mean age 67 years, 29% women). Stroke was defined as all strokes (ischemic, hemorrhagic and undefined). Multivariable logistic regression models were applied for prevalent stroke (n=72). Prior to analyses of incident stroke, cases of prevalent stroke were excluded. Multivariate Cox regression models were applied for incident stroke.
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<jats:bold>Results:</jats:bold>
Gal-4 levels were significantly higher in subjects with prevalent stroke (p=0.003) than in subjects free from prevalent stroke. Gal-4 (per doubling of concentration) was significantly associated with prevalent stroke in age and sex adjusted models (odds ratio 1.49; 95% confidence interval (1.04-2.14); p=0.032), but the associations was no longer significant upon further adjustment for traditional risk factors for stroke (OR 1.22 (0.82-1.82), p=0.339). Further, each doubling in Gal-4 concentration was associated with higher risk of incident stroke (n=1604; 327 events; median follow up time 12.6 (interquartile range 10.0-13.6) years; hazard ratio 1.24 (1.02-1.49); p=0.027) in a model adjusted for BMI, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, prevalent coronary events and anti-hypertensive treatment.
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<jats:bold>Conclusions:</jats:bold>
In a large population cohort, Gal-4 was associated with incident stroke during a follow-up of 12 years, further implicating a role of Gal-4 in both cardiovascular and metabolic disease.
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