NMR in biomedicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of T1 relaxation times in adipose tissue of severely obese patients and healthy lean subjects measured by 1.5 T MRI.
Subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) differ in composition, endocrine function and localization in the body. VAT is considered to play a role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and other obesity-related disorders. It has been shown that the amount, distribution, and (cellular) composition of adipose tissue (AT) correlate well with metabolic conditions. ⋯ Obese subjects also showed significant (p < 0.01) T1 differences between sSAT (268 ± 11 ms) and dSAT (281 ± 19 ms). More important, T1 differences in both SAT and VAT were highly significant (p < 0.001) between obese patients and healthy subjects. The results of our pilot study suggest that T1 relaxation times differ between severely obese patients and lean controls, and may potentially provide an additional means for the non-invasive assessment of AT conditions and dysfunction.