Galectin-3 in Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review Based on Life's Essential 8 and Life's Simple 7 Frameworks

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Research
• Biomarker Discovery
• Molecular Medicine

Background:

• Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a lectin binding β-galactosides, is implicated in cardiovascular disease pathogenesis.
• Gal-3 contributes to inflammation, fibrosis, metabolic dysregulation, and cardiac remodeling.
• Existing research highlights Gal-3's role in various cardiovascular conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate current clinical and experimental findings on Gal-3.
• To connect Gal-3's role with the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7 (LS7) and Life's Essential 8 (LE8) guidelines.
• To elucidate Gal-3's linkage between environmental, behavioral, and molecular risk factors and cardiometabolic outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review following SANRA guidelines.
• Thematic organization of findings across modifiable cardiovascular health domains (glucose, lipids, activity, BP, diet, sleep, tobacco, BMI).
• Focus on oxidative stress, inflammatory-fibrotic axis, and immune activation pathways.

Main Results:

• Gal-3 links lifestyle and environmental factors to cardiovascular damage.
• Mechanistic pathways include oxidative stress, inflammation, fibrosis, and immune activation.
• Gal-3's role is evident across multiple cardiovascular risk domains.

Conclusions:

• Gal-3 serves as a potential biomarker for cardiovascular risk stratification.
• Gal-3 monitoring can inform lifestyle interventions and personalized prevention strategies.
• This review bridges molecular mechanisms with clinical and public health relevance for cardiovascular disease prevention.