Short guide on modulating Galectin-3

Inflammation don't go brrrrr

As I wrote in the comments in my last substack, I am now going to write a short guide on modulating and ameliorating disease or inflammatory states induced by Galectin-3 overexpression (abundance of said protein).

To be clear and because I wanted to make a specific point in my Galectin-3 is an evolutionary tool, it is not all bad, or all good, per the substack itself, it is very “situational” dependent, and in the case in relation to SARS-CoV-2, clearly bad.

Let’s start with one of my favorite supplements, one I have been advising and a mainstay for the treatment of many conditions (for gut-related diseases, Melatonin is as close to a magic pill as one could get).

Among the many pathological effects of Galectin-3 in the body, one of the most researchers is its pro-fibrotic capacity, fibrosis is the scaring of the actual tissue, and it is one of the worse aspects of the progression of many diseases. And here, by acting on the inflammation, and ROS via NRF (antioxidant “master”) it down-regulates Galectin-3.

To be clear Melatonin has dozens of other uses, and if you have either a chronic disease, inflammatory condition, or any bioenergetic condition, I highly recommend you consider reading more about melatonin and taking it.

Gal-3 occurs often in response to inflammation, but also as a response to surging ROS production, therefore NAC would have a beneficial effect on Gal-3 production, similar effects in cell lines were also found. As a very simplistic rule of thumb, anything that limits ROS in various different settings, as a byproduct, might help with the deleterious effects of Gal-3.

Next, a common and cheap intervention.

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If you dig into the literature on Vitamin D, among its numerous effects, you will find a correlation between higher levels of Gal-3 and lower levels of Vitamin D, such as in this study in children, where they found this exact scenario, and propose Gal-3 may be involved in airway inflammation and the development of asthma. Supplementation of Vitamin D after a viral infection, or under certain chronic/latent (such as EBV) infections is more than beneficial.

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Everybody’s (but not me) favorite flavonoid can also ameliorate the inflammatory cascade that Gal-3 induces by inhibiting Gal-3 NLRP3 interaction, arguably Fisetin, which I often call “Stronger Quercetin cousin” is likely to induce a similar response but perhaps stronger. And since NLRP3 plays such a major role not only in many diseases and chronic conditions but in the course of both the viral infection and after-effects of SARS-CoV-2, this gives me leeway to argue another angle on why most people should adopt a low carbohydrate diet.

Under a ketonic state, one of its most well-regarded effects in the body is its inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. As you can read here, enough circulating ketones are able to reduce cardiac inflammation and stop heart failure, by reducing NLRP3 inflammasome activation, the same goes for neurodegeneration.

There are many other ways to modulate or attenuate Gal-3 presence in your body, these are but a few, one of the most recommended (to my annoyance) is Modified Citrus Pectin, it is really good, but I am not a fan of an expensive option, unless they are not of extensive use, a “one and done” deal. Obviously, there are many other options but these are the ones I prefer because of the correlation and synergy between the many mechanisms they affect in regard to SARS-CoV-2 and many other diseases.

And since I have written about peptides a couple of times.

A lot of the more “customized” or smaller peptides are often more expensive, and since 2020 peptides prices skyrocketed beyond belief for a few reasons (corporate greed, FDA, China lockdowns), but I think there is worth mentioning, even if some of these are rather expensive.

I would still reserve the use of certain peptides as the last case or “break glass” scenario, but this is merely my perspective. Here we have a small peptide that directly prevents all the inflammatory, fibrotic and dysfunctional damage that Gal-3 induces, by a proposed pathway by the researchers.

This peptide (Ac-SDKP) is a byproduct of the “processing” of another natural peptide, called Thymosin Beta 4, commercially named TB500 (a common combo is running a course of BPC-157 and TB500 for compounding healing effects).

“Thymosin beta-4 improves endothelial function and reparative potency of diabetic endothelial cells differentiated from patient induced pluripotent stem cells”

Thymosin Beta 4 has a massive body of literature and research done on it, so as a “cheaper alternative” for better health, and healing from a myriad of issues, not as “precise” as other peptides, this is another great option.

With this last addition, I end this post, so now people have both a reference and a starting point to go further (as anyone who reads me should).

As usual, thank you and big appreciation for the supporters here and on Kofi, and also everyone who shares, also helpful !