Galectin-3 plays an important role as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for certain types of heart disease, kidney disease, viral infection, autoimmune disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and tumor formation. In particular, it has been recognized that galectin-3 is extremely useful for detecting many of these diseases in their early stages.
Hara A, Niwa M, Noguchi K, Kanayama T, Niwa A, Matsuo M, Hatano Y, Tomita H. Galectin-3 as a Next-Generation Biomarker for Detecting Early Stage of Various Diseases. Biomolecules. 2020 Mar 3;10(3):389. doi: 10.3390/biom10030389. PMID: 32138174; PMCID: PMC7175224.