Medical imaging in the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk

Abstract

Purpose of review The prevalence of obesity has exponentially increased during the past years. The assessment of human adipose tissue distribution enables the identification of diverse ectopic adipose tissue depots, and helps to explain its relationship with cardiovascular health status. In this review, we summarize the current methods used in the assessment of human adipose tissue distribution, and we discuss the relationship between ectopic adipose tissue distribution and the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and metabolic complications. Recent findings The reference instruments to assess human adipose tissue distribution nowadays are the computed tomography and the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Today, MRI is the preferred imaging technique and enables the measurement of variations in the distribution of body adipose tissue among different phenotypes and individuals. This technique has helped to better understand the relationship between different ectopic adipose tissue depots and its relationship with cardiometabolic health among individuals. Summary Although body composition can be assessed by simple techniques, these calculations can provide erroneous results and conclusions, requiring complex interpretations when diverse metabolic situations are concomitantly engaged. Contrarily, medical imaging techniques (e.g. MRI) enables to objectively and unbiasedly measure changes that may occur during longitudinal studies (e.g. pharmacological drug interventions).

Large-scale metabolite imaging gallery of mouse organ tissues to study spatial metabolism

“…However, these organ tissues are metabolically heterogeneous, comprising different cell types and anatomy 5,6 . Studying spatial distribution of metabolites within organs assumes a pivotal role in unravelling organ-specific metabolism, understanding disease mechanisms, and predicting responses to treatments 1,7 . In this context, the advent of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) technology has emerged as a powerful tool enabling label-free visualization of numerous molecules in tissue sections 8 .…”