Alzheimer Hastalığı'nda İnflamasyon ve Oksidatif Stres Göstergesi Olarak Galektin 3'ün Rolü

Abstract

ABSTRACT Guner G, The Role of Galectin-3 As An Indicator of Inflammation and Oxidative Stress In Alzheimer's Disease, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Thesis in Internal Medicine, Ankara 2015 Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of central nervous system and most common cause of dementia. Inflammation plays an important role in the development of cognitive decline and dementia in the old age. Galectin-3 is a multifunctional protein implicated in a variety of biological processes including fibrosis, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and immune activation but, the best known role for galectin-3 is in acute and chronic inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether galectin-3 can be an indicator of inflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease pathogenesis and a feasible biomarker of the disease. In this cross-sectional study, following geriatric comprehensive assessment and cognitive assessment, 44 AD patients and 44 control patients with normal cognitive status aged 65 years and over admitted to the outpatient clinic of the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, at Hacettepe University Hospital were enrolled. Patients who had acute or chronic infection or chronic diseases that can affect galectin-3 levels (chronic inflammatory diseases) were exluded. The comprehensive geriatric assessment tests and neuropsychiatric tests were performed to all patients. Serum galectin-3 levels were measured. Analyses revealed that galectin-3 level of Alzheimer’s Disease group was higher than the control group. However, it was not statistically significant (AD: 7.53 [2.22-16.19], control 7.02 [1.87-20]; (p=0.443)). According to Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) the galectin-3 levels of patients in moderately severe dementia group (GDS stage 6) were significantly higher than the patients in early dementia group (moderately severe dementia group 10.42 [6.29-13.59], early-moderate dementia group 7.09 [2.22-16.19] p=0.032). There was a significant weak negative correlation between galectin-3 levels and the Digit Span Forward (r=-0.216 p=0.043) and Backward (r=-0.233 p=0.029) tests. This study suggests that galectin-3 potentially plays an important role as an indicator of inflammation and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease. Besides, galectin-3 is measured easily in patient's serum so it could be a potential candidate as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s Disease. However, further and larger prospective studies are needed to clarify the association. Key Words: Alzheimer Disease; biomarker; galectin-3; inflammation; oxidative stress