Galectin-3 concentrations in response to an exhaustive aerobic exercise

Elevated levels of galectin-3 have been found to be significantly associated with higher risk of death in both acute decompensate heart failure and chronic heart failure populations. Although endurance exercise is a crucial element in cardiovascular disease prevention, the relationship between exercise and plasma levels of galectin-3 is still unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of an exhaustive aerobic exercise on galectin-3 levels in healthy males.

Fifteen healthy male (aged: 22.2 ± 2.3 years; ± SD) volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were performed Bruce protocol as the exhaustive aerobic exercise. The blood sample was taken before and immediately after the completion of the exhaustive aerobic exercise. Wilcoxon test and Spearman correlation test were used to analyze the data.

The results demonstrated that galectin-3 had no significant changes in response to the exhaustive aerobic exercise (297.6 ± 180.5 vs. 294.9 ± 190.3 pg/ml). No significant correlation was observed between the post-exercise levels of galectin-3 with body mass (r = 0.1, P = 0.7), BMI (r = ‒ 0.1, P = 0.7), body fat percentage (r = 0.06, P = 0.8), WHR (r = 0.02, P = 0.9), or VO2max (r = 0.2, P = 0.4).

In conclusion, the exhaustive aerobic exercise had not significant effects on galectin-3 concentrations in healthy individuals.