%0 Journal Article
%A Martínez Martínez, Ernesto
%A Calvier L,
%A Fernández-Celis A,
%A Rousseau E
%A Jurado-López R
%A Rossoni LV
%A Jaisser F
%A Zannad F
%A Rossignol P,
%A Cachofeiro Ramos, María Victoria
%A López-Andrés N
%T Galectin-3 blockade inhibits cardiac inflammation and fibrosis in experimental hyperaldosteronism and hypertension. Hypertension
%D 2015
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/115839
%X Hypertensive cardiac remodeling is accompanied by molecular inflammation and fibrosis, 2 mechanisms that finally affect cardiac function. At cardiac level, aldosterone promotes inflammation and fibrosis, although the precise mechanisms are still unclear. Galectin-3 (Gal-3), a β-galactoside-binding lectin, is associated with inflammation and fibrosis in the cardiovascular system. We herein investigated whether Gal-3 inhibition could block aldosterone-induced cardiac inflammation and fibrosis and its potential role in cardiac damage associated with hypertension. Aldosterone-salt-treated rats presented hypertension, cardiac inflammation, and fibrosis that were prevented by the pharmacological inhibition of Gal-3 with modified citrus pectin. Cardiac inflammation and fibrosis presented in spontaneously hypertensive rats were prevented by modified citrus pectin treatment, whereas Gal-3 blockade did not modify blood pressure levels. In the absence of blood pressure modifications, Gal-3 knockout mice were resistant to aldosterone-induced cardiac inflammation. In human cardiac fibroblasts, aldosterone increased Gal-3 expression via its mineralocorticoid receptor. Gal-3 and aldosterone enhanced proinflammatory and profibrotic markers, as well as metalloproteinase activities in human cardiac fibroblasts, effects that were not observed in Gal-3-silenced cells treated with aldosterone. In experimental hyperaldosteronism, the increase in Gal-3 expression was associated with cardiac inflammation and fibrosis, alterations that were prevented by Gal-3 blockade independently of blood pressure levels. These data suggest that Gal-3 could be a new molecular mechanism linking cardiac inflammation and fibrosis in situations with high-aldosterone levels, such as hypertension.
%~