Emerging Technologies and their Applications in Lipid Compartment Measurement

Abstract

Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs), including obesity, are emerging as the major health concern of the 21st century. Excess adiposity and related NCD metabolic disturbances have stimulated development of new lipid compartment measurement technologies to help us understand cellular energy exchange, to refine phenotypes, and to develop predictive markers of adverse clinical outcomes. Recent advances now allow for quantification of multiple intracellular lipid and adipose tissue compartments that can be evaluated across the human lifespan. With magnetic resonance methods leading the way, newer approaches will give molecular structural and metabolic information beyond the laboratory in real-world settings. The union between these new technologies and the growing NCD population is creating an exciting interface advancing our understanding of chronic disease mechanisms.

In vivo triglyceride composition of abdominal adipose tissue measured by 1H MRS at 3T

“…After conventional imaging, a 15 × 15 × 15 mm voxel on the right side of the body was selected in the following locations (Fig. ): 1) dSCAT; 2) sSCAT; and 3) retro‐peritoneal VAT . The location of the voxel was primarily constrained by body habitus.…”

“…The development of imaging techniques to measure adipose tissue depot volumes has allowed the relationship between depot volume and metabolic disease to be well characterized . Abdominal superficial subcutaneous adipose tissue (sSCAT), deep subcutaneous adipose tissue (dSCAT), and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) have distinct morphological, metabolic, and genetic characteristics .…”

“…Spectroscopy can specify the chemical structure of the triglyceride in terms of three variables: number of ‐CH=CH‐ double bonds per molecule (ndb), number of double bonds separated by a single CH 2 (nmidb, number of methylene‐interrupted double bonds), and the fatty acid chain length (CL) . As 1 H MRS is noninvasive and can be performed in relatively small voxels with reasonably short acquisition times, it allows acquisition of spectra from multiple locations in the adipose tissue …”

Body composition and functional assessment of nutritional status in adults: a narrative review of imaging, impedance, strength and functional techniques

“…In addition to quantifying adipose and muscle stores, recent interest in MRI has focused on magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), which uses a series of scans to provide information on the specific metabolites within tissue, including lipid, glycogen and amino acids, using 1 H, 13 C and 31 P . This has significance as a clinical research tool because MRS is able to identify and quantify lipid within muscles and the liver (i.e.…”

Assessment methods of body composition

“…Magnetna rezonanca predstavlja najpreciznijiju, ali i najmanje dostupnu metodu za procenu telesnog sastava, regionalnih skeletnih mišića, subkutanog i visceralnog, belog i mrkog masnog tkiva [47]. Prethodne studije su zasnovane na činjenici da se mrko masno tkivo razlikuje od belog po frakciji zasićenih i nezasićenih masnih kiselina, kao i sadržaju vode [48]. Smatra se da se volumen ukupnog supkutanog masnog tkiva može se proceniti jednim poprečnim presekom na nivou L5-S1 ili 5 cm ispod [47,49].…”