Significance of Epicardial and Intrathoracic Adipose Tissue Volume among Type 1 Diabetes Patients in the DCCT/EDIC: A Pilot Study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 11; no. 7; p. e0159958
• Main Authors: Darabian, Sirous, Backlund, Jye-Yu C, Cleary, Patricia A, Sheidaee, Nasim, Bebu, Ionut, Lachin, John M, Budoff, Matthew J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 26-07-2016; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Adipose Tissue - diagnostic imaging; Adult; Age; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomedical research; Body fat; Body mass; Body mass index; Cardiovascular disease; Care and treatment; Chronic kidney failure; Complications; Complications and side effects; Computed tomography; Coronary artery; Coronary artery disease; Coronary vessels; Correlation; Correlation analysis; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes mellitus (insulin dependent); Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - blood; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - complications; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - diagnostic imaging; Diabetic Cardiomyopathies - epidemiology; Disease control; Drug stores; Epidemiology; Excretion; Family medical history; Female; Gender differences; Glucose; Health risk assessment; Health risks; Heart attacks; Heart diseases; Hemoglobin; Hemoglobin A - metabolism; Hip; Humans; Insulin; Lipids; Male; Medical imaging; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Middle Aged; Mortality; Obesity; Patients; Pericardium - diagnostic imaging; Physiological aspects; Pilot Projects; Regression analysis; Regression models; Research and Analysis Methods; Risk analysis; Risk factors; Statistical analysis; Thoracic Cavity - diagnostic imaging; Thorax; Tomography; Triglycerides - blood; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Type 1 diabetes; United States
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0159958

Type 1 diabetes (T1DM) patients are at increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). This pilot study sought to evaluate the relationship between epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and intra-thoracic adipose tissue (IAT) volumes and cardio-metabolic risk factors in T1DM.
EAT/IAT volumes in 100 patients, underwent non-contrast cardiac computed tomography in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial /Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) study were measured by a certified reader. Fat was defined as pixels' density of -30 to -190 Hounsfield Unit. The associations were assessed using-Pearson partial correlation and linear regression models adjusted for gender and age with inverse probability sample weighting.
The weighted mean age was 43 years (range 32-57) and 53% were male. Adjusted for gender, Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between age and EAT/IAT volumes (both p<0.001). After adjusting for gender and age, participants with greater BMI, higher waist to hip ratio (WTH), higher weighted HbA1c, elevated triglyceride level, and a history of albumin excretion rate of equal or greater than 300 mg/d (AER≥300) or end stage renal disease (ESRD) had significantly larger EAT/IAT volumes.
T1DM patients with greater BMI, WTH ratio, weighted HbA1c level, triglyceride level and AER≥300/ESRD had significantly larger EAT/IAT volumes. Larger sample size studies are recommended to evaluate independency.