LGALS3 and diabetes mellitus: To remove the influence of specific confounding variables which are known to have an impact on plasma Galectin-3 levels, donors were selected according to their age (younger than 25 or older than 55 years), body mass index (BMI < 30), health status (diabetes negative and C reactive protein < 10mg/l), as well as the blood type (blood type A, B or AB).