The relationship of sGFAP and galectin-3 levels in the diagnosis and prognosis of cerebrovascular diseases

Cerebrovascular disease is the main cause of death in the world and in our country. Prompt diagnosis and treatment of early period complications are important in patients whom diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease. Glial fibriller acidic protein (GFAP) is a selective marker, which is expressed in astrocytes. Glial cells initiate cellular response in case of central nervous system injury. Galectin-3 is influenced by the physiological and pathological events and also that have been identified to play role in inflammatory process. In this study have been aimed to investigate the effects of galectin-3 and GFAP levels on the diagnosis and prognosis in patients who admitted to our emergency department because of cerebrovascular disease. 27 men, 31 women, a total of 58 patients diagnosed with cerebrovascular disease and 29 men, 21 women a total of 50 healthy people studied in this paper. Blood samples were taken on admission and third day of hospitalisation from the patients and it were taken only once from healthy population at admission time. Obtained GFAP and galectin-3 levels from both patients and healthy people have been compared with each other, also. In patients GFAP (37.93±11: 52) and galectin-3 (1.47±1.30) levels measured higher than healthy control group GFAP levels (24.90±13.90) and galectin-3 (0.84±0.5 ) levels (p <0.05). It was seen that, measured levels of GFAP (37.93±11: 52) and galectin-3 (1.47±1.30) in patient group which taken at the time of admission were higher than GFAP (30.58±14: 18) and galectin-3 (1.09±0.35) levels that obtained in the third day of admission (p <0.05). Increased levels of GFAP and Galectin-3 in cerebrovascular events especially in acute period pointed that both substances can be used as a marker in diagnosis, and this finding suggests decreased serum levels can be used on prognosis after treatment. We believed that wide and more studies should be done to show the effects of GFAP and galectin-3 on cerebrovascular disease. Key Words: Cerebrovascular disease, GFAP, Galectin-3