Animal Studies Show Improved Sepsis Survival with Galectin-3 Removal Device

A blood filtration device designed to remove the protein galectin-3 has demonstrated improved survival rates in two animal models of sepsis, with 57 percent of treated rats and 69 percent of treated miniature pigs surviving compared to lower rates in control groups.

The device, developed by Isaac Eliaz and his colleagues, involves draining a volume of blood from a patient, separating cells from plasma in a centrifuge, passing the plasma through a filter with antibodies against galectin-3 to remove the protein, and then recombining and returning the blood.

A team led by Zhiyong Peng at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in China tested the apheresis device using a three-pronged approach, including tracking 87 people with sepsis and 27 healthy volunteers, where those with sepsis had higher galectin-3 levels that declined among survivors.

In the first animal model, 48 rats developed sepsis after part of their large intestine was punctured, with 28 receiving galectin-3 filtration and the rest given sham apheresis, resulting in 57 percent survival in the treatment group versus 25 percent in controls.

The second model involved miniature pigs given lipopolysaccharide, a bacterial chemical triggering sepsis, treated with intensive care methods; 16 received galectin-3 apheresis and 15 sham treatment, yielding 69 percent survival in the treated group compared to 27 percent in the sham group.

Isaac Eliaz, at the Amitabha Medical Clinic and Healing Center in Santa Rosa, California, has studied galectin-3 for decades.

The protein regulates cell growth, division, death, and activates some immune cells in healthy people, but has been implicated in conditions from autoimmunity to cancer, according to Eliaz. Several studies link higher galectin-3 levels to increased mortality risk in sepsis patients. “It covers a whole array of diseases, from autoimmunity to cancer,” said Eliaz.

Eliaz’s company, Eliaz Therapeutics, is seeking funding for a randomized clinical trial of galectin-3 apheresis in people, aiming to conduct it in 2027. Sepsis arises when the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection, damaging tissues and organs, and can progress to septic shock with dramatic blood pressure drops causing further damage.

In 2017, there were an estimated 49 million sepsis cases worldwide.

A meta-analysis of patients in Europe, North America, and Australia found 32 percent die within 90 days from sepsis, rising to 39 percent for septic shock. “This is innovative, for sure,” said Djillali Annane at the Raymond Poincaré Hospital in Garches, France, noting consistent results in the animal models but calling for mechanistic understanding, replication by independent groups, and tests in other animals like primates.

70659.