Pancreatic Fat Levels May Help Predict Diabetes

	Tweet

Researchers have long suspected that overweight people tend to have large fat deposits in their pancreases, but they’ve been unable to confirm or calculate how much fat resides there because of the organ’s location.

Until now.

Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center are the first in the U.S. to use an imaging technique called magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure the amount of pancreatic fat in humans. Though scientists worldwide already use MRS to investigate a number of diseases including breast cancer and epilepsy, the UT Southwestern group has successfully used the noninvasive method to measure pancreatic fat.

Findings from a new UT Southwestern study available online and in a future issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism suggest that measuring pancreatic fat content in people could one day serve as an effective clinical tool to identify those at high risk of diabetes and monitor interventions designed to prevent the disease. 

“These are very early results, but if they hold true, pancreatic MRS would be a fast and noninvasive test to screen people at risk for diabetes either because they’re obese or they have a family history of type 2 diabetes, or metabolic syndrome,” said Dr. Ildiko Lingvay, assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern and lead author of the study. “It could potentially tell physicians which patients are most likely to develop diabetes in the near future and thus are in need of more aggressive interventions.”

MRS is a specialized technique similar to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). It uses no radiation and is completely noninvasive. The test generally takes 20 to 30 minutes. Whereas an MRI can tell clinicians where a tumor is located, MRS can tell those physicians whether the tumor is malignant by providing biochemical information about specific tissues in the body rather than simply detecting the existence of those tissues, Dr. Lingvay said.

For this study, researchers used MRS to measure the amount of pancreatic fat in 79 adult volunteers. The research team obtained duplicate measurements one to two weeks apart from 33 study participants to make sure the results could be replicated over time.

The volunteers were divided into four groups according to their body mass index (BMI) and glucose tolerance. BMI is a weight-to-height ratio commonly used in to gauge obesity. A normal BMI is between 18.5 and 25; someone with a BMI of 40 or more is considered morbidly obese. All participants underwent numerous physical measurements including height, weight and blood pressure in addition to extensive clinical evaluations.

Using MRS, the researchers found that the overweight and obese volunteers had significantly more pancreatic fat than did those in the lean group. The volunteers who had similar BMIs but had already developed either pre-diabetes or diabetes had even more pancreatic fat.

MRS has not been approved for routine clinical use, but Dr. Lingvay said this research shows that it could be a very valuable tool for studying the pancreas without a biopsy. “This technology represents a good opportunity for clinicians to pursue research that hasn’t been possible because of the lack of advanced tools,” she said.

The next step, Dr. Lingvay said, is to determine whether reducing the amount of fat in the pancreas lowers diabetes risk.

Other UT Southwestern researchers involved in the study included Dr. Victoria Esser, associate professor of internal medicine; Jaime Legendre, recipient of a Clinical Research Fellowship from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Dr. Angela Price, postdoctoral clinician trainee in internal medicine; Kristen Wertz, research associate in internal medicine; Beverley Adams Huet, assistant professor of clinical sciences; Dr. Song Zhang, assistant professor of clinical sciences; Dr. Roger Unger, professor of internal medicine; and Dr. Lidia Szczepaniak, former assistant professor of internal medicine and radiology.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Source:  UT Southwestern Medical Center

RELATED STORIES:
Phone contact with nurses linked with better outcomes for women with gestational diabetes   Death rate drops among Americans with diabetes -CDC   Correct treatment of common diabetic foot infections can reduce amputations   “Pre-diabetes,” diabetes rising among U.S. teens   Experimental bariatric surgery controls blood sugar in rats with diabetes   53 millions Americans might develop diabetes by 2025   New inflammation hormone link may pave way to study new drugs for type 2 diabetes   Diabetic retinopathy research could reduce screening costs   Liver fat gets a wake-up call that maintains blood sugar levels   Low testosterone levels could raise diabetes risk for men   Prosthetic lets diabetic get a foot up on life   Dealing with Diabetes, One Patient at a Time

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]