Fat Infiltration (fat + infiltration)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Nonalcoholic fatty pancreas disease

HPB, Issue 4 2007
Abhishek Mathur
Abstract Background. Obesity leads to fat infiltration of multiple organs including the heart, kidneys, and liver. Under conditions of oxidative stress, fat-derived cytokines are released locally and result in an inflammatory process and organ dysfunction. In the liver, fat infiltration has been termed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which may lead to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. No data are available, however, on the influence of obesity on pancreatic fat and cytokines, and nonalcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD) has not been described. Therefore, we designed a study to determine whether obesity is associated with increased pancreatic fat and cytokines. Materials and methods. Thirty C57BL/6J lean control and 30 leptin-deficient obese female mice were fed a 15% fat diet for 4 weeks. At 12 weeks of age all animals underwent total pancreatectomy. Pancreata from each strain were pooled for measurement of a) wet and dry weight, b) histologic presence of fat, c) triglycerides, free fatty acids (FFAs), cholesterol, phospholipids, and total fat, and d) interleukin (IL)-1, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-,). Data were analyzed by Student's t test and Fisher's exact test. Results. Pancreata from obese mice were heavier (p<0.05) and had more fat histologically (p<0.05). Pancreata from obese mice had more triglycerides, FFAs, cholesterol, and total fat (p<0.05). Triglycerides represented 11% of pancreatic fat in lean mice compared with 67% of pancreatic fat in obese mice (p<0.01). Cytokines IL-1, and TNF-, also were elevated in the pancreata of obese mice (p<0.05). Conclusions. These data suggest that obese mice have 1) heavier pancreata, 2) more pancreatic fat, especially triglycerides and FFAs, and 3) increased cytokines. We conclude that obesity leads to nonalcoholic fatty pancreatic disease. [source]


Do Muscle Mass, Muscle Density, Strength, and Physical Function Similarly Influence Risk of Hospitalization in Older Adults?

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 8 2009
Peggy Mannen Cawthon PhD
OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between strength, function, lean mass, muscle density, and risk of hospitalization. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Two U.S. clinical centers. PARTICIPANTS: Adults aged 70 to 80 (N=3,011) from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study. MEASUREMENTS: Measurements were of grip strength, knee extension strength, lean mass, walking speed, and chair stand pace. Thigh computed tomography scans assessed muscle area and density (a proxy for muscle fat infiltration). Hospitalizations were confirmed by local review of medical records. Negative binomial regression models estimated incident rate ratios (IRRs) of hospitalization for race- and sex-specific quartiles of each muscle and function parameter separately. Multivariate models adjusted for age, body mass index, health status, and coexisting medical conditions. RESULTS: During an average 4.7 years of follow-up, 1,678 (55.7%) participants experienced one or more hospitalizations. Participants in the lowest quartile of muscle density were more likely to be subsequently hospitalized (multivariate IRR=1.47, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.24,1.73) than those in the highest quartile. Similarly, participants with the weakest grip strength were at greater risk of hospitalization (multivariate IRR=1.52, 95% CI=1.30,1.78, Q1 vs. Q4). Comparable results were seen for knee strength, walking pace, and chair stands pace. Lean mass and muscle area were not associated with risk of hospitalization. CONCLUSION: Weak strength, poor function, and low muscle density, but not muscle size or lean mass, were associated with greater risk of hospitalization. Interventions to reduce the disease burden associated with sarcopenia should focus on increasing muscle strength and improving physical function rather than simply increasing lean mass. [source]


Impairment of Hepatic Microcirculation in Fatty Liver

MICROCIRCULATION, Issue 6 2003
SAMIA IJAZ
ABSTRACT Fatty liver or hepatic steatosis, which is the result of the abnormal accumulation of triacylglycerol within the cytoplasm of hepatocytes, is a common histological finding in human liver biopsy specimens that is attributed to the effects of alcohol excess, obesity, diabetes, or drugs. There is a general consensus that fatty liver compromises hepatic microcirculation, the common exchange network upon which hepatic arterial and portal inflows converge, regardless of underlying etiology. A significant reduction in hepatic microcirculation has been observed in human fatty donor livers and in experimental models of hepatic steatosis. There is an inverse correlation between the degree of fat infiltration and both total hepatic blood flow and flow in microcirculation. Fatty accumulation in the cytoplasm of the hepatocytes is associated with an increase in the cell volume that reduces the size of the hepatic sinusoid space by 50% compared with a normal liver and may result in partial or complete obstruction of the hepatic sinusoid space. As a result of impaired hepatic microcirculation, the hepatocytes of the fatty liver have reduced tolerance against ischemia-reperfusion injury, which affects about 25% of the donors for liver transplantation because severe steatosis is associated with a high risk of primary nonfunction after liver transplantation. [source]


The diagnostic utility of magnetic resonance imaging in spondylarthritis: An international multicenter evaluation of one hundred eighty-seven subjects

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 10 2010
Ulrich Weber
Objective To systematically assess the diagnostic utility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to differentiate patients with spondylarthritis (SpA) from patients with nonspecific back pain and healthy volunteers, using a standardized evaluation of MR images of the sacroiliac joints. Methods Five readers blinded to the patients and diagnoses independently assessed MRI scans (T1-weighted and STIR sequences) of the sacroiliac joints obtained from 187 subjects: 75 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS; symptom duration ,10 years), 27 patients with preradiographic inflammatory back pain (IBP; mean symptom duration 29 months), 26 patients with nonspecific back pain, and 59 healthy control subjects; all participants were age 45 years or younger. Bone marrow edema, fat infiltration, erosion, and ankylosis were recorded according to standardized definitions using an online data entry system. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios (LRs) for the diagnosis of SpA based on global assessment of the MRI scans. Results Diagnostic utility was high for all 5 readers, both for patients with AS (sensitivity 0.90, specificity 0.97, positive LR 44.6) and for patients with preradiographic IBP (sensitivity 0.51, specificity 0.97, positive LR 26.0). Diagnostic utility based solely on detection of bone marrow edema enhanced sensitivity (67%) for patients with IBP but reduced specificity (88%); detection of erosions in addition to bone marrow edema further enhanced sensitivity (81%) without changing specificity. A single lesion of the sacroiliac joint on MRI was observed in up to 27% of control subjects. Conclusion This systematic and standardized evaluation of sacroiliac joints in patients with SpA showed that MRI has much greater diagnostic utility than has been documented previously. We present for the first time a data-driven definition of MRI-visualized positivity for SpA. [source]