Galectin-3 and Soluble CD146 Identify Cardiorenal Injuries in Severe Burn Patients: A Biomarker-Based Approach.

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) and myocardial injury (MI) are severe conditions in patients with severe burn injury, and combination of both is even worst and is called the cardiorenal syndrome (CRS). Identifying a distinct cardiorenal phenotype could significantly enhance the management of these patients. Galectin-3 (Gal3) and soluble CD146 (sCD146) are biomarkers for renal and cardiac injuries. This study aims to assess the occurrence and reliability of these biomarkers in recognizing CRS in individuals who have been severely burn.

Methods: This study is a single-center prospective proof-of-concept study involving patients with severe burn injuries. Plasma samples for Gal3 and sCD146 measurements were collected daily during the initial 7 days following admission. CRS was defined after 24 h of admission by the association of AKI stage 1 or more (KDIGO definition) and MI defined on high sensitive troponin (hsTnT) (variation >20% baseline value or absolute value >40 ng/mL).

Results: Forty patients met the inclusion criteria and were included in this study. Thirty-eight patients had CRS. The pooled values of Gal3 or combination of Gal3 and sCD146 values following 7 days after admission were associated with CRS with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.145 (95% CI: 1.081-1.211), p < 0.001, and 1.147 (95% CI: 1.085-1.212), p < 0.001, respectively. Gal3 values at admission (D0) had a predictive performance for CRS with an AUC of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.63-0.93), and this performance improved when using the combination of Gal3 and sCD146 values at admission (D0), with an AUC of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.66-0.96). Gal3 levels during the first 7 days were associated with patients experiencing AKI and no MI, with an OR of 1.129 (95% CI: 1.065-1.195), p < 0.001, and MI without AKI with an OR of 1.095 (95% CI: 1.037-1.167), p < 0.001. sCD146 alone was not associated with AKI without MI or MI without AKI and was poorly associated with CRS.

Conclusion: In severely burned patients, CRS is a frequent and severe condition. Gal3 values during the first 7 days following admission were associated with CRS. The use of sCD146 with Gal3 improved prediction performance for CRS identification. The use of such biomarkers to identify CRS is important and needs to be confirmed in other studies.