TECHNICAL NOTE

Quantification of Intra-Abdominal Fat During Controlled Weight Reduction: Assessment Using the Water-Suppressed Breath-Hold MRI Technique

J. TINTĚRA, P. HARANTOVÁ, P. SUCHÁNEK, A. DVOŘÁKOVÁ, M. ADAMOVÁ, M. HÁJEK, R. POLEDNE

Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic

Received January 10, 2003
Accepted May 21, 2003



Summary
A group of 14 healthy female subjects was studied using MRI during 2 months of life-style intervention. A series of 21 water-suppressed images was used to determine the intra-abdominal fat volume before and after the controlled loss of weight. The average weight decrease was 8.2 %, but the average relative loss of visceral fat was 20.3 %, whereas subcutaneous fat decreased by 13.4 %. A small but significant increase of insulin sensitivity (decrease in fasting insulin and blood glucose) was observed, but no changes in lipoprotein parameters were demonstrated. There was a significant negative correlation (r=–0.633, p=0.028) between the relative abdominal fat decrease and the initial amount of subcutaneous fat.


Key words
Intra-abdominal adipose tissue • MRI • Weight loss