Serum Galectin-3, but Not Galectin-1, Levels Are Elevated in Schizophrenia: Implications for the Role of Inflammation

Overview

Journal Psychopharmacology (Berl)

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2017 Jul 13

PMID 28698921

Citations 15

Authors

Kosuke Kajitani

Kazuyuki Yanagimoto

Yusaku Nakabeppu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have reported that galectin-3 is involved in inflammatory processes in the central nervous system and that neuroinflammation may play a role in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. However, the link between schizophrenia and various galectins is unclear.

Objective: The objective of the present study is to determine whether galectin, a well-known lectin protein that binds to μ-galactoside, is associated with chronic schizophrenia.

Methods: Thirty-six patients with schizophrenia and 36 healthy controls participated in this study. Schizophrenia symptoms were assessed using the Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale (BPRS). Serum galectin-1 and galectin-3 levels were evaluated using ELISA and compared between the participant groups. Correlation analyses were also performed to examine the relationship between BPRS scores and each galectin level.

Results: Serum galectin-3 levels were significantly higher in patients with schizophrenia than they were in controls (p = 0.009, d = 0.640); however, serum galectin-1 levels were not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.513). No significant correlation was identified between serum galectin-3 level and the total BPRS score; however, a significant positive correlation was found between the serum galectin-3 level and the positive symptom score of the BPRS (ρ = 0.355; p = 0.033). Additionally, a significant negative correlation was identified between serum galectin-3 levels and the negative symptom score of the BPRS (ρ = -0.387; p = 0.020).

Conclusions: Given the high serum levels of galectin-3 found in patients with schizophrenia compared with that in controls, these findings may support the inflammation hypothesis of schizophrenia.

Citing Articles

Serum Galectin-3 and IL-6 as Inflammatory Markers in Bipolar Disorder: Insights from Manic and Euthymic Episodes.

Ozkaya A, Gurbuzer N, Tozoglu E, Akyildirim S, Mercantepe F J Clin Med. 2025; 14(3).

PMID: 39941474 PMC: 11818607. DOI: 10.3390/jcm14030803.

Evaluation of galectin-1 and galectin-3 levels in patients with bipolar disorder: is galectin-3 associated with treatment response?.

Yuksel Aytekin M, Kahve A, Ekinci R, Sakalli Nural A, Cakmak I, Ayaz Nayci N Braz J Psychiatry. 2024; 46:e20243535.

PMID: 38767861 PMC: 11744267. DOI: 10.47626/1516-4446-2024-3535.

Serum Galectin-1, Galectin-9, and YKL-40 levels in bipolar disorder and their relationship with cognitive functions.

Selahaddin E, Bahadir D, Sengul S, Seyithan T, Hasan U, Gulcin E Brain Behav. 2024; 14(2):e3421.

PMID: 38346720 PMC: 10861353. DOI: 10.1002/brb3.3421.

Higher Levels of Galectin-1 and Galectin-3 in Young Subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorder Compared to Unaffected Siblings and Healthy Controls.

Karadogan Z, Tanir Y, Karayagmurlu A, Kucukgergin C, Coskun M Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2023; 21(4):749-757.

PMID: 37859448 PMC: 10591161. DOI: 10.9758/cpn.23.1052.

Galectin-3 levels in school aged children with autism spectrum disorder.

Artik A, Kocaman O, Kara H, Tuncer S Int J Dev Disabil. 2023; 69(5):757-761.

PMID: 37547549 PMC: 10402832. DOI: 10.1080/20473869.2022.2150035.

References

Mueser K, McGurk S . Schizophrenia. Lancet. 2004; 363(9426):2063-72. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16458-1. View

Krzeslak A, Lipinska A . Galectin-3 as a multifunctional protein. Cell Mol Biol Lett. 2004; 9(2):305-28. View

Khandaker G, Cousins L, Deakin J, Lennox B, Yolken R, Jones P . Inflammation and immunity in schizophrenia: implications for pathophysiology and treatment. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015; 2(3):258-270. PMC: 4595998. DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(14)00122-9. View

Iwamoto M, Taguchi C, Sasaguri K, Kubo K, Horie H, Yamamoto T . The Galectin-1 level in serum as a novel marker for stress. Glycoconj J. 2010; 27(4):419-25. DOI: 10.1007/s10719-010-9288-z. View

Lee K, Jeon Y, Lee H, Jun T . Efficacy and safety of quetiapine for depressive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2009; 24(6):447-52. DOI: 10.1002/hup.1047. View

Alves C, Silva D, Azzolini A, Marzocchi-Machado C, Carvalho J, Pajuaba A . Galectin-3 plays a modulatory role in the life span and activation of murine neutrophils during early Toxoplasma gondii infection. Immunobiology. 2009; 215(6):475-85. DOI: 10.1016/j.imbio.2009.08.001. View

Burguillos M, Svensson M, Schulte T, Boza-Serrano A, Garcia-Quintanilla A, Kavanagh E . Microglia-Secreted Galectin-3 Acts as a Toll-like Receptor 4 Ligand and Contributes to Microglial Activation. Cell Rep. 2015; 10(9):1626-1638. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.02.012. View

Kajitani K, Nomaru H, Ifuku M, Yutsudo N, Dan Y, Miura T . Galectin-1 promotes basal and kainate-induced proliferation of neural progenitors in the dentate gyrus of adult mouse hippocampus. Cell Death Differ. 2008; 16(3):417-27. DOI: 10.1038/cdd.2008.162. View

Monji A, Kato T, Kanba S . Cytokines and schizophrenia: Microglia hypothesis of schizophrenia. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2009; 63(3):257-65. DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2009.01945.x. View

10.

Brewer C . Thermodynamic binding studies of galectin-1, -3 and -7. Glycoconj J. 2004; 19(7-9):459-65. DOI: 10.1023/B:GLYC.0000014075.62724.d0. View

11.

Kajitani K, Kobayakawa Y, Nomaru H, Kadoya T, Horie H, Nakabeppu Y . Characterization of galectin-1-positive cells in the mouse hippocampus. Neuroreport. 2013; 25(3):171-6. DOI: 10.1097/WNR.0000000000000068. View

12.

Ouyang J, Plutschow A, Pogge von Strandmann E, Reiners K, Ponader S, Rabinovich G . Galectin-1 serum levels reflect tumor burden and adverse clinical features in classical Hodgkin lymphoma. Blood. 2013; 121(17):3431-3. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2012-12-474569. View

13.

de Waard A, Hickman S, Kornfeld S . Isolation and properties of beta-galactoside binding lectins of calf heart and lung. J Biol Chem. 1976; 251(23):7581-7. View

14.

Dimitrov D, Lee S, Yantis J, Valdez C, Paredes R, Braida N . Differential correlations between inflammatory cytokines and psychopathology in veterans with schizophrenia: potential role for IL-17 pathway. Schizophr Res. 2013; 151(1-3):29-35. DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2013.10.019. View

15.

Hrynchyshyn N, Jourdain P, Desnos M, Diebold B, Funck F . Galectin-3: a new biomarker for the diagnosis, analysis and prognosis of acute and chronic heart failure. Arch Cardiovasc Dis. 2013; 106(10):541-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.acvd.2013.06.054. View

16.

Issa S, Christensen A, Lottenburger T, Junker K, Lindegaard H, Horslev-Petersen K . Within-day variation and influence of physical exercise on circulating Galectin-3 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy individuals. Scand J Immunol. 2015; 82(1):70-5. DOI: 10.1111/sji.12301. View

17.

Fryk E, Sundelin J, Strindberg L, Pereira M, Federici M, Marx N . Microdialysis and proteomics of subcutaneous interstitial fluid reveals increased galectin-1 in type 2 diabetes patients. Metabolism. 2016; 65(7):998-1006. DOI: 10.1016/j.metabol.2016.04.003. View

18.

Barondes S, Cooper D, Gitt M, Leffler H . Galectins. Structure and function of a large family of animal lectins. J Biol Chem. 1994; 269(33):20807-10. View

19.

Chen C, Duckworth C, Zhao Q, Pritchard D, Rhodes J, Yu L . Increased circulation of galectin-3 in cancer induces secretion of metastasis-promoting cytokines from blood vascular endothelium. Clin Cancer Res. 2013; 19(7):1693-704. PMC: 3618858. DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-12-2940. View

20.

Weiner E, Conley R, Ball M, Feldman S, Gold J, Kelly D . Adjunctive risperidone for partially responsive people with schizophrenia treated with clozapine. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2010; 35(11):2274-83. PMC: 2939921. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2010.101. View