Correlation between pancreatic fat content and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Objective To investigate the correlation between pancreatic fat content and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods From January to June 2017, 60 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus and 64 non-diabetic healthy subjects were enrolled into diabetes group or control group, respectively. Various indexes were measured, including height, weight, body mass index (BMI), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) and fasting insulin (FINS). Insulin resistance (IR) index and β cell function index were evaluated with homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). The pancreas was scanned with magnetic resonance imaging Dixon technique, then the pancreatic fat volume fractions (PFVF) was measured and calculated. The data between these two groups were compared with t test, and the correlation analysis was evaluated with Pearson or Spearman test. Results The PFVF in diabetic group was higher than that in control group (9.6%±4.1% vs 6.6%±2.8%, t=4.745, P<0.05). The correlation analysis showed that PFVF was positively correlated with BMI (r=0.386, P<0.05), FPG (r=0.358, P<0.05) and TG (r=0.323, P<0.05), meanwhile negatively correlated with HDL-C (r=-0.339, P<0.05). However, PFVF had no correlation with TC, LDL-C, HbA1c, FINS, HOMA-IR and HOMA-β. Conclusion Accumulation of fat content in pancreas may play an important role in the pathogenesis of T2DM. Key words: Diabetes mellitus, type 2; Pancreatic fat; Magnetic resonance imaging Dixon technique