The Plasma Metabolomic Profile is Differently Associated with Liver Fat, Visceral Adipose Tissue, and Pancreatic Fat.

Abstract

CONTEXT:

Metabolic differences between ectopic fat depots may provide novel insights to obesity-related diseases.

OBJECTIVE:

To investigate the plasma metabolomic profiles in relation to visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume and liver and pancreas fat percentages.

DESIGN:

Cross-sectional.

SETTING:

Multicenter at academic research laboratories.

PATIENTS:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to assess VAT volume, the percentage of fat in the liver and pancreas (proton density fat fraction [PDFF]) at baseline in 310 individuals with a body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2 and with serum triglycerides ≥ 1.7 mmol/l and/or type 2 diabetes screened for inclusion in the 2 effect of omega-3 carboxylic acid on liver fat content studies.

INTERVENTION:

None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE:

Metabolomic profiling with mass spectroscopy enabled the determination of 1063 plasma metabolites.

RESULTS:

Thirty metabolites were associated with VAT volume, 31 with liver PDFF, and 2 with pancreas PDFF when adjusting for age, sex, total body fat mass, and fasting glucose. Liver PDFF and VAT shared 4 metabolites, while the 2 metabolites related to pancreas PDFF were unique. The top metabolites associated with liver PDFF were palmitoyl-palmitoleoyl-GPC (16:0/16:1), dihydrosphingomyelin (d18:0/22:0), and betaine. The addition of these metabolites to the Liver Fat Score improved C-statistics significantly (from 0.776 to 0.861, P = 0.0004), regarding discrimination of liver steatosis.

CONCLUSION:

Liver PDFF and VAT adipose tissue shared several metabolic associations, while those were not shared with pancreatic PDFF, indicating partly distinct metabolic profiles associated with different ectopic fat depots. The addition of 3 metabolites to the Liver Fat Score improved the prediction of liver steatosis.

• Authors: Lars Lind, Samira Salihovic, Ulf Risérus, Joel Kullberg, Lars Johansson, Håkan Ahlström, Jan W Eriksson, Jan Oscarsson
• Journal: The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism (J Clin Endocrinol Metab) Vol. 106 Issue 1 Pg. e118-e129 (01 01 2021) ISSN: 1945-7197 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 33123723 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Endocrine Society.

Topics

• Adiposity (physiology)
• Adult
• Aged
• Blood (metabolism)
• Cohort Studies
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 (blood, metabolism)
• Fatty Liver (blood, diagnosis)
• Female
• Humans
• Intra-Abdominal Fat (diagnostic imaging, metabolism)
• Lipid Metabolism (physiology)
• Liver (diagnostic imaging, metabolism)
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Male
• Metabolome (physiology)
• Metabolomics
• Middle Aged
• Obesity (blood, metabolism)
• Pancreas (diagnostic imaging, metabolism)
• Sweden