NPPB and coronary artery disorder: The Serum NT-proBNP and galectin-3 levels were found to be increased significantly in the DM, the CAD + DM and the HF + DM groups with respect to the control group, respectively (for NT-proBNP: control vs. DM p < 0.001, control vs. CAD + DM p < 0.01, control vs. HF + DM p < 0.001, DM vs. CAD + DM p < 0.01, DM vs. HF + DM p < 0.001, CAD + DM vs. HF + DM p < 0.05; for galectin-3 p < 0.001 for all comparisons) (Table 2).