Liver fat content is linked to inflammatory changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue in type 2 diabetes patients

Item does not contain fulltext BACKGROUND: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are typically overweight and have an increased liver fat content (LFAT). High LFAT may be explained by an increased efflux of free fatty acids from the adipose tissue, which is partly instigated by inflammatory changes. This would imply an association between inflammatory features of the adipose tissue and liver fat content. OBJECTIVE: To analyse associations between inflammatory features of the adipose tissue and liver fat content. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. PATIENTS: Twenty-seven obese patients with insulin-treated T2DM were studied. MEASUREMENTS: LFAT content was measured by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A subcutaneous (sc) fat biopsy was obtained to determine morphology and protein levels within adipose tissue. In addition to fat cell size, the percentage of macrophages and the presence of crown-like structures (CLSs) within sc fat were assessed by CD68-immunohistochemical staining. RESULTS: Mean LFAT percentage was 11.1 +/- 1.7% (range: 0.75-32.9%); 63% of the patients were diagnosed with an elevated LFAT (upper range of normal