Associations between Bright Pancreas and Features of Metabolic Syndrome

Abdominal ultrasonography can detect increased echogenicity of the pancreas in the health check-ups of disease-free individuals. We previously defined this finding as ʻbright pancreasʼ and reported on its clinical importance1. Marks et al.2 reported that increased pancreatic echogenicity on abdominal ultrasonography might represent a fatty change of the pancreas and suggested that the increased echogenicity, or ʻbright pancreas,ʼ represents fatty pancreas. Bright pancreas is usually accompanied by fatty liver1,3. Also, it is widely recognized that many patients with fatty liver have type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, obesity, and/or hypertension1. Diagnostic criteria4 for metabolic syndrome were established by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) in 2001, and a close association has been shown between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the metabolic syndrome5-7. However, bright pancreas has not yet been recognized as an abnormal feature of the pancreas, and even when we detect bright pancreas in examinees, no medication is recommended. To assess the etiology of bright pancreas and evaluate its clinical importance, we performed From the 1)Department of Gastroenterology, Murakami Memorial Hospital, Asahi University, 2)Medical Health Check-up Center of Murakami Memorial Hospital, Asahi University, and 3)Immunology Frontier Research Center at Osaka University. Address for Reprints : Akihiro Obora, Department of Gastroenterology, Murakami Memorial Hospital, Asahi University. 3-23 Hashimoto-cho, Gifu 500-8523, Japan. Tel. +81-58-253-8001 Fax. +81-58-253-3299 E-mail. a-obora@murakami.asahi-u.ac.jp Received July 11, 2011 ; Accepted November 2, 2011 Akihiro Obora1,2), Takao Kojima1,2), Takahiro Kato1), Mio Endo1), Kiichiro Miyawaki1), Nobuhiro Fukuta1), Naomi Ban1), Masahide Hamaguchi3)