According to this study, the increase of serum levels of Gal-3 may help in discriminating between patients with undifferentiated arthritis who subsequently developed RA and those with undifferentiated arthritis who do not develop RA and in this sense it works better than other serological markers of cartilage regeneration (such as the type IIA collagen N-terminal propeptide, PIIANP) or synovial swellings (such as the hyaluronan, HYA). The gene discussed is LGALS3; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.