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. Methods and Results Asymptomatic obese patients (n=250) and non‐obese controls (n=21) underwent echocardiographic cardiac phenotyping. Obese patients were classified as MHD positive (MHD‐POS; n=94) if they had abnormal diastolic function or left ventricular hypertrophy and had estimated pulmonary artery systolic pressure ≥35 mm Hg. Obese patients without such abnormalities were classified as MHD negative (MHD‐NEG; n=52). Serum biomarkers timed with echocardiography. MHD‐POS and MHD‐NEG individuals were s...