Relationship between liver fat, pancreatic fat, and new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease.

Purpose: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with ectopic fat deposition, especially in the liver and pancreas. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between liver fat fraction (LFF), pancreatic fat fraction (PFF), and new-onset T2DM in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with MAFLD who underwent abdominal MRI between 2022 and July 2024. LFF and PFF were measured using an axial multi-echo Dixon-based sequence. All participants underwent routine medical history, anthropometric measurements, and laboratory tests. Multivariable stepwise selection models were constructed to predict PFF and T2DM status based on variables of clinical interest.

Results: This study included 80 MAFLD patients with 40 untreated new-onset T2DM and 40 non-T2DM controls. LFF, PFF, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index were higher in the T2DM group than in the control group. In the new-onset T2DM group, PFF was linearly positively correlated with LFF (r_s = 0.321, P = 0.04) and HOMA-IR (r_s = 0.350, P = 0.03). After adjustment for several metabolic variables, PFF remained an independent risk factor for incident T2DM in MAFLD patients (all P < 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for PFF and LFF to predict T2DM was 0.889 and 0.633 (P < 0.001 and P = 0.03), respectively.

Conclusion: In MAFLD patients, PFF, and LFF play a prominent role in new-onset T2DM with high predictive and diagnostic value.