Galectin-3 Is Associated With Stage B Metabolic Heart Disease and Pulmonary Hypertension in Young Obese Patients.

Background Obesity is a precursor to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Biomarkers that identify preclinical metabolic heart disease ( MHD ) in young obese patients would help identify high-risk individuals for heart failure prevention strategies. We assessed the predictive value of GAL3 (galectin-3), FSTL3 (follistatin-like 3 peptide), and NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide) to identify stage B MHD in young obese participants free of clinically evident cardiovascular disease.

Preclinical Systolic and Diastolic Dysfunctions in Metabolically Healthy and Unhealthy Obese Individuals.

Background: Despite the substantial overlap of obesity and metabolic disease, there is heterogeneity with respect to cardiovascular risk. We sought to investigate preclinical differences in systolic and diastolic function in obesity, and specifically compare obese individuals with and without metabolic syndrome (MS).

Methods And Results: Obese individuals without cardiac disease with (OB/MS+, n=124) and without (OB/MS-, n=37) MS were compared with nonobese controls (n=29).

Impaired right ventricular hemodynamics indicate preclinical pulmonary hypertension in patients with metabolic syndrome.

Background: Metabolic disease can lead to intrinsic pulmonary hypertension in experimental models. The contributions of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity to pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular dysfunction in humans remain unclear. We investigated the association of MetS and obesity with right ventricular structure and function in patients without cardiovascular disease.

Preclinical left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is commonly associated with left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction and LV hypertrophy. We sought to examine whether preclinical LV diastolic dysfunction can occur independent of LV hypertrophy in MS. We recruited 90 consecutive participants with MS and without cardiovascular disease (mean age 46 years, 78% women) and 26 controls (no risk factors for MS; mean age 43 years, 65% women).