The Association between Nonalcoholic Fatty Pancreas Disease and Diabetes

Abstract

BackgroundFatty infiltration of the pancreas has been shown to interfere with insulin secretion. Both insulin sensitivity and secretion are important in the pathogenesis of diabetes and prediabetes. However, the relationship between diabetes, prediabetes, and fatty pancreas remains unknown. We aim to investigate the relationships that fatty pancreas and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have with prediabetes and diabetes in a Chinese population.Patients and MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study. A total of 7,464 subjects were recruited. NAFLD and fatty pancreas were assessed by sonography. Clinico-metabolic parameters were compared among subjects with normoglycemia, prediabetes, and diabetes. Multinomial logistic regression was used to evaluate the relationship between fatty pancreas and NAFLD and diabetes or prediabetes with adjustment for cardiometabolic risk factors.ResultsWith an increase in glycemia, a significantly greater proportion of subjects had NAFLD and fatty pancreas (test for trend p<0.05). Similar trends were also found for hypertension, general and central obesity, low-HDL cholesterol, and hypertriglyceridemia. In the logistic regression analysis, age, hypertension, male gender, hypertriglyceridemia, and central obesity were significantly associated with prediabetes and diabetes. Furthermore, the ORs of prediabetes and diabetes for NAFLD were 1.798 (95% CI 1.544–2.094) and 2.578 (95% CI 2.024–3.284), respectively. In addition, fatty pancreas was independently related to diabetes (OR, 1.379; 95% CI, 1.047–1.816) and prediabetes (OR, 1.222; 95% CI, 1.002–1.491) in male subjects.ConclusionsBoth NAFLD and fatty pancreas were associated with diabetes independent of age, gender, adiposity, and other cardiometabolic risk factors. Fatty pancreas was also related to prediabetes in males.

Pancreas Volume and Fat Deposition in Diabetes and Normal Physiology: Consideration of the Interplay Between Endocrine and Exocrine Pancreas

“…It has been reported that pancreatic fat quantified by either sonography, CT, MRI, or MR spectrometry (MRS) is increased in patients with dysglycemia [115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122], and pancreatic fat content is negatively correlated with beta-cell function [123][124][125][126][127] (Table 2). Honka et al have recently studied pancreatic metabolism and blood flow in obese subjects, using positron emission tomography (PET) [128].…”

Human pancreatic neuro-insular network in health and fatty infiltration

“…To elucidate the intra-pancreatic ganglia and the neuroinsular network in a clinically related setting, we classified the degree of pancreatic fatty infiltration (or pancreatic steatosis [12][13][14]) in human specimens to assess the remodelling of the pancreatic microenvironment by infiltrated adipocytes. Clinically, pancreatic fatty infiltration is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes [14][15][16].…”

Image Evaluation and Association Analysis of the Cardiovascular Disease of the Degree of Pancreatic Steatosis in Ultrasonography

“…Depending on the degree of pancreatic echogenicity, the degree of pancreatic steatosis can be classified as mild, moderate, and severe. These fatty deposits in the pancreas can be the basis of risk factors and diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome [24] and insulin resistance early markers in various research studies, and the relevance of cardiovascular disease related to pancreatic steatosis as evaluated is progressing [25]. WC, TG, BST, SBP, HDL-cholesterol were the risk factors for metabolic syndrome, and in the dyslipidemia HDL-cholesterol and TC, LDL-cholesterol, TG are known to increase in the pancreatic fat group.…”