Mr quantification of total liver fat in patients with impaired glucose tolerance and healthy subjects

Objective: To explore the correlations between liver fat content and clinical index in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and healthy subjects.

Materials and Methods: 56 subjects were enrolled and each of them underwent upper-abdominal MRI examination that involved a T1 VIBE Dixon sequence. 14 was clinically diagnosed with IGT (collectively as IGT group ) while 42 showed normal glucose tolerance,(collectively as NGT group). NGT group was further divided into NGTFat (BMI≥25, 18 subjects) and NGTLean (BMI,〈25, 24 subjects). The total liver fat contents was measured and compared with clinical findings and laboratory results in order to determine statistical correlations between these parameters. Differences among IGT, NGTFat and NGTLean groups were evaluated.

Results: For all the subjects, fat volume fractions (FVFs) ranged from 4.2% to 24.2%, positive correlations was observed with BMI, waist hip ratio(WHR), low density lipoprotein(LDL), fasting plasma insulin(FPI), homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and homeostasis model assessment β(HOMAβ). FVFs of IGT group (p = 0.004) and NGTFat group (p = 0.006) were significantly higher than those of NGTLean group.

Conclusions: People with higher BMI, WHR and LDL levels tend to have higher liver fat content. Patients with BMI ≥25 are more likely to develop IGT. Patients with higher FVF showed higher resistance to insulin, thus obtained a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus.