Study of Liver Fat Content in Patients with Newlydiagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus on Chemical Shift MRI

Objective: To explore liver fat content and correlative factors in patients with newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM). Methods: Data were obtained from 69 patients with T2DM(16 females, 53 males; aged 44.4 ± 12.9 years old) and 32 healthy volunteers(15 females, 17 males; aged 42.7 ± 9.6 years old). The technique of double-echo chemical shift gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the fat content of each hepatic segment respectively. The fat fraction between two groups and among hepatic segments was compared, and its correlation with body weight, body mass index, waistline, hipline, waist hip ratio, visceral adiposity, superficial adiposity, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, fasting c-peptide, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein and low density lipoprotein was analyzed. Results: There were significant differences in the fat fraction between healthy volunteers and T2DM group(t=5.402, P < 0.05). The fat fraction of hepatic segment Ⅰ to Ⅷ in T2DM patients was 18.67% ± 5.28%, 19.52% ± 4.22%, 19.37% ± 4.81%, 19.63% ± 3.67%, 19.39% ± 4.15%, 19.44% ± 4.18%, 19.67% ± 4.50% and 20.43% ± 4.38%, respectively, there was no significant difference among them(F=0.800, P > 0.05); the body weight(r=0.316), body mass index(r=0.302), waistline(r=0.291), hipline(r=0.279), superficial adiposity(r=0.310), fasting insulin(r=0.265) and fasting c-peptide(r=0.268) are positive correlation(P < 0.05) to the liver fat fraction, whereas the waist hip ratio(r=0.195), visceral adiposity(r=0.117), fasting blood glucose(r=-0.039), total cholesterol(r=-0.146), triglyceride(r=0.240), high density lipoprotein(r=0.012) and low density lipoprotein(r=-0.137) are irrelevant(P > 0.05) to the liver fat fraction. Conclusions: The liver fat content in newly-diagnosed patients with T2DM is higher than that in healthy people, and is positive correlation to the body weight, body mass index, waistline, hipline, superficial adiposity, fasting insulin and fasting c-peptide.