Interrelationships Among Accumulations of Intra- and Periorgan Fats, Visceral Fat, and Subcutaneous Fat.

We aimed to clarify the relationship between intra- and periorgan fats, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat. We used abdominal computed tomography to evaluate intra- and periorgan fat accumulations in the pancreas, liver, spleen, renal parenchyma, renal sinus, and skeletal muscle. The relationships between these fats, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat were examined by using partial correlation and covariance analysis, adjusting for BMI. We found that visceral fat and all intra- and periorgan fat accumulations were positively correlated, whereas subcutaneous fat and accumulations of all intra- and periorgan fats and visceral fat were negatively correlated. Individuals with excessive visceral fat accumulation had significantly greater accumulations of fat in the pancreas, liver, renal sinus, and skeletal muscle than those without excessive visceral fat accumulation (P = 0.01, 0.006, 0.008, and 0.02, respectively). In conclusion, all intra- and periorgan fat accumulations show a positive correlation with visceral fat and a negative correlation with subcutaneous fat, independent of BMI. Article Highlights: Intra- and periorgan fats, visceral fat, and subcutaneous fat are thought to play different physiologic roles, and understanding the impact of the amount and distribution of these fats may contribute to the prevention and treatment of obesity-related diseases. We found that visceral fat and subcutaneous fat have contrasting associations with intra- and periorgan fat accumulations, and excessive visceral fat was significantly associated with intra- and periorgan fat accumulations. Our findings deepen the understanding of the relationships between intra- and periorgan, visceral, and subcutaneous fats and may contribute to the development of future strategies for obesity-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]