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Within‐day variation and influence of physical exercise on circulating Galectin‐3 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy individuals

Galectin‐3 has been suggested as a pro‐inflammatory mediator in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Previous studies have reported overexpression of Galectin‐3 in RA synovitis and increased levels in synovial fluid and serum in long‐standing RA compared with osteoarthritis and healthy controls. Our objectives were to study whether serum Galectin‐3 (1) exhibits circadian variation and/or (2) responds to exercise in RA and controls. The study on circadian patterns (1) comprised eleven patients with newly diagnosed RA, disease duration less than 6 months (ERA), 10 patients with long‐standing RA [5–15 years (LRA)] and 16 self‐reportedly healthy control subjects. During 24 h, 7 blood samples were drawn at 3‐h intervals starting at 10 a.m. through 10 p.m. and at 7 and 10 a.m. on the following day. The study on the effect of physical activity (2) included 10 patients with ERA, 10 with LRA and 14 controls. The participants underwent a standardized exercise programme and four blood samples were drawn before, during and after exercise. Serum Galectin‐3 was quantified by ELISA (R&D systems). (1) Galectin‐3 was increased at baseline in both RA subsets (P = 0.08). There were no diurnal oscillations (P = 0.85). Day‐to‐day variation amounted to 3%. (2) Baseline Galectin‐3 was increased in LRA versus controls and ERA (P < 0.01 and 0.05). Physical exercise induced 10–15% Galectin‐3 increments in RA and controls (P < 0.001) peaking after 1–3 h. To conclude, Galectin‐3 did not exhibit circadian variation. Day‐to‐day variation was 3%. Exercise elicited comparable increments in patients with RA of short and long duration and controls, approaching normal after 1–3 h.