Minireviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Oct 15, 2021; 12(10): 1731-1739
Published online Oct 15, 2021. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v12.i10.1731
Galectin-3 possible involvement in antipsychotic-induced metabolic changes of schizophrenia: A minireview
Milica M Borovcanin, Katarina Vesic, Milena Jovanovic, Natasa R Mijailovic
Milica M Borovcanin, Department of Psychiatry, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kragujevac 34000, Sumadija, Serbia
Katarina Vesic, Department of Neurology, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kragujevac 34000, Sumadija, Serbia
Milena Jovanovic, PhD Studies, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kragujevac 34000, Sumadija, Serbia
Milena Jovanovic, Clinic for Nephrology and Dialysis, University Clinical Center Kragujevac, Kragujevac 34000, Sumadija, Serbia
Natasa R Mijailovic, Department of Pharmacy, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Kragujevac 34000, Sumadija, Serbia
Author contributions: Borovcanin MM presented the idea, structured the manuscript, incorporated all parts of the manuscript, and drew a figure; all authors have additionally searched the literature; Vesic K, Jovanovic M, and Mijailovic RN have given some new insights in specific fields of their competencies, and done the final revision of the manuscript and figure corrections; All authors have read, discussed, and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, No. 175069; and Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, No. JP15-05.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Milica M Borovcanin has received research funding from Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, No. 175069; Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac No. JP15-05. Katarina Vesic, Milena Jovanovic, and Natasa R Mijailovic declare that they have no conflicting interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Milica M Borovcanin, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Medical Sciences, 69 Svetozara Markovica St, Kragujevac 34000, Sumadija, Serbia. milicaborovcanin@medf.kg.ac.rs
Received: June 28, 2021
Peer-review started: June 28, 2021
First decision: July 15, 2021
Revised: July 24, 2021
Accepted: August 6, 2021
Article in press: August 6, 2021
Published online: October 15, 2021
Abstract

Recently, specific immunometabolic profiles have been postulated in patients with schizophrenia, even before full-blown disease and independent of antipsychotic treatment. Proteomic profiling studies offer a promising potential for elucidating the cellular and molecular pathways that may be involved in the onset and progression of schizophrenia symptoms, and co-occurrent metabolic changes. In view of all this, we were intrigued to explore galectin-3 (Gal-3) as a glycan, and in our previous study, we measured its elevated levels in remission of schizophrenia. The finding may be a consequence of antipsychotic treatment and may have an impact on the onset of inflammation, the development of obesity, and the presumed cognitive changes in schizophrenia. In the animal study, it was shown that downregulation of Gal-3 was beneficial in insulin regulation of obesity and cognitive preservation. Strategies involving plasma exchange are discussed in this review, particularly in the context of Gal-3 elimination.

Keywords: Galectin-3, Schizophrenia, Metabolic syndrome, Insulin resistance, Cognition, Antipsychotics

Core Tip: Atypical antipsychotic use can be associated with undesired metabolic effects. In that context, glycosylation has become a new target in the investigation of schizophrenia pathophysiology. As a glycan, galectin-3 (Gal-3) might be involved in the inflammation-insulin resistance-obesity cascade in schizophrenia, leading to cognitive changes. Eliminating Gal-3 influence may be beneficial in preserving cognition and reestablishing metabolic balance.