PANCREATIC FAT CONTENT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS SIMILAR TO THAT OF LIVER FAT CONTENT.

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major health problem worldwide. Earlier studies have reported that pancreatic fat content (PFC) and liver fat content (LFC) are risk factors for T2DM. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the relationship between PFC, LFC and T2DM.

Methods: A total of 70 T2DM subjects and 30 non-diabetic volunteers who underwent Dixon-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method at Yixing People's Hospital between December 2018 to December 2020 were included in the study. The three-point Dixon (3p-Dixon) method was used to measure the fat content in the pancreas and liver. Clinical indices including gender, age, body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose and C peptide levels were collected. The association between PFC, LFC, and OGTT-derived parameters was examined by Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses.

Results: T2DM subjects had higher PFC and LFC than those measured in the non-diabetic subjects (p <0.05). PFC and LFC were associated positively with OGTT-derived parameters such as insulin secretion, insulin resistance, and early- and late-phase insulin secretion in the male T2DM subjects(p <0.05), but not in the non-diabetic and female T2DM subjects. The relationship between PFC and OGTT-derived parameters was also more obvious than that for LFC in overweight and obese male patients with T2DM whose BMI was >24 kg/m².

Conclusion: PFC and LFC were both associated with β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance in males with T2DM. The relationship between PFC and β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance was more obvious than that observed for LFC in overweight and obese male T2DM patients. More attention should therefore be paid to PFC in clinical settings.