Metabolic interactions between organs in overweight and obesity using total-body positron emission tomography

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Overweight and obesity is a complex condition resulting from unbalanced energy homeostasis among various organs. However, systemic abnormalities in

overweight and obese people are seldom explored in vivo by metabolic imaging techniques. The aim of this study was to determine metabolic abnormities throughout the body in overweight and

obese adults using total-body positron emission tomography (PET) glucose uptake imaging. METHODS Thirty normal weight subjects [body mass index (BMI) < 25 kg/m2, 55.47 ± 13.94 years, 16

men and 14 women], and 26 overweight and obese subjects [BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, 52.38 ± 9.52 years, 21 men and 5 women] received whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET imaging using the uEXPLORER.

Whole-body standardized uptake value normalized by lean body mass (SUL) images were calculated. Metabolic networks were constructed based on the whole-body SUL images using covariance

network approach. Both group-level and individual-level network differences between normal weight and overweight/obese subjects were evaluated. Correlation analysis was conducted between

network properties and BMI for the overweight/obese subjects. RESULTS Compared with normal weight subjects, overweight/obese subjects exhibited altered network connectivity strength in four

network nodes, namely the pancreas (_p_ = 0.033), spleen (_p_ = 0.021), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) (_p_ = 1.12 × 10−5) and bone (_p_ = 0.021). Network deviations of overweight/obese

subjects from the normal weight were positively correlated with BMI (_r_ = 0.718, _p_ = 3.64 × 10−5). In addition, overweight/obese subjects experienced altered connections between organs,

and some of the altered connections, including pancreas-right lung and VAT-bilateral lung connections were significantly correlated with BMI. CONCLUSION Overweight/obese individuals exhibit

metabolic alterations in organ level, and altered metabolic interactions at the systemic level. The proposed approach using total-body PET imaging can reveal individual metabolic variability

and metabolic deviations between organs, which would open up a new path for understanding metabolic alterations in overweight and obesity. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe

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GLUCOSE UPTAKE AND DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE HUMAN SKELETON USING STATE-OF-THE-ART TOTAL-BODY PET/CT Article Open access 06 July 2023 CT-DERIVED BODY COMPOSITION ANALYSIS COULD POSSIBLY

REPLACE DXA AND BIA TO MONITOR NET-PATIENTS Article Open access 04 August 2022 BLOOD POOL ACTIVITY ON F-18 FDG PET/CT AS A POSSIBLE IMAGING BIOMARKER OF METABOLIC SYNDROME Article Open

access 15 October 2020 DATA AVAILABILITY The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. REFERENCES

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we expect. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2013;23:905–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.numecd.2013.06.012 Article  PubMed  Google Scholar  Download references FUNDING This work was supported by

the Science and Technology Funding from Jinan (grant number: 2020GXRC018), Academic Promotion Program of Shandong First Medical University (grant number: 2019QL009), Natural Science

Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant number: ZR2023QH109), and Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province (grant number: TS201712065). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS *

School of Radiology, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Taian, 271016, China Weizhao Lu & Jianfeng Qiu * Department of PET-CT, the First

Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, 250014, China Yanhua Duan, Kun Li & Zhaoping

Cheng Authors * Weizhao Lu View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Yanhua Duan View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar * Kun Li View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Zhaoping Cheng View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jianfeng Qiu View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS All authors contributed to the study

conception and design. Material preparation, data collection were performed by YD, KL and ZC data processing and analysis were performed by WL and JQ The first draft of the manuscript was

written by WL. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and all authors read and approved the final manuscript. CORRESPONDING AUTHORS Correspondence to Zhaoping Cheng or

Jianfeng Qiu. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. All authors commented on previous

versions of the manuscript and all authors read and approved the final manuscript. ETHICS APPROVAL This study received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Shandong First Medical

University in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE Prior to PET/CT scan, all subjects gave their written informed consent. CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION All authors

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K. _et al._ Metabolic interactions between organs in overweight and obesity using total-body positron emission tomography. _Int J Obes_ 48, 94–102 (2024).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-023-01394-2 Download citation * Received: 05 July 2023 * Revised: 15 September 2023 * Accepted: 28 September 2023 * Published: 10 October 2023 * Issue Date:

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