Changes in abdominal adipose tissue depots assessed by MRI correlate with hepatic histologic improvement in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis - Research article summary

Sep 15, 2026

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Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is common in adults with obesity and may progress to cirrhosis. This secondary analysis evaluates whether reductions in adipose tissue compartment volumes relate to hepatic histologic improvement, using prospectively acquired data from the multicenter randomized placebo-controlled FLINT trial of obeticholic acid. Adult participants with paired baseline and end-of-treatment liver biopsies and abdominal MRI at 72 weeks were analyzed, assessing MRI-derived adipose volumes and NASH histologic endpoints.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

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UC San Diego UC San Diego Previously Published Works Title Changes in abdominal adipose tissue depots assessed by MRI correlate with hepatic histologic improvement in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4fz662jw](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4fz662jw) Journal Journal of Hepatology, 78(2) ISSN 0168-8278 Authors Shen, Wei Middleton, Michael S Cunha, Guilherme Met al. Publication Date 2023-02-01 DOI 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.10.027 Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Author Manuscr ipt Author Manuscr ipt Author Manuscr ipt Author Manuscript | | HHS Public Access
Author manuscript
J Hepatol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2024 February 01. | | --- | --- | Published in final edited form as: J Hepatol. 2023 February ; 78(2): 238–246. doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2022.10.027 . Changes in abdominal adipose tissue depots assessed by MRI correlate with hepatic histologic improvement in non-alcoholicsteatohepatitis Wei Shen 1,2,3 , Michael S. Middleton4 , Guilherme M. Cunha5 , Timoteo I. Delgado4 , Tanya Wolfson6 , Anthony Gamst6,7 , Kathryn J. Fowler4 , Adina Alazraki8 , Andrew T. Trout9 , Michael A. Ohliger10 , Shetal N. Shah 11 , Mustafa R. Bashir12,13,14 , David E. Kleiner15 , Rohit Loomba 16 , Brent A Neuschwander-Tetri 17 , Arun J. Sanyal 18 , Jane Zhou 1 , Claude B. Sirlin4,* , Joel E. Lavine 1,2,* 1 Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; 2 Institute of Human Nutrition, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University Irving Medical Center; NY, USA; 3Columbia Magnetic Resonance Research Center (CMRRC), Columbia University; 4Liver Imaging Group, Department of Radiology, UCSD School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA; 5 Department of Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 6Computational and Applied Statistics Laboratory (CASL), San Diego Supercomputer Center at UCSD, San Diego, CA, USA; 7 Department of Mathematics, UCSD, San Diego, CA, USA; USA; 8 Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA, USA; 9 Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA; 10 Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA; Correspondence to: Wei Shen, MD, Department of Pediatrics and Institute of Human Nutrition, College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, Director, Image Analysis Core Laboratory, Obesity Nutrition Research Center, Columbia Magnetic Resonance sequlcoCenterntributi(CMon tRotRC), WShe work@nicoroumuthir[a.edu](a.edu). Author contributions: substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data: WS, JL, CS, TIW, MSM, GMC, TD, and DEK; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content: WS, MSM, GMC, TD, TIW, AG, KJF, AA, ATT, MO, SNS, MRB, DEK, RL, BAN-T, AJS, JZ, CS, and, JL; 3) final approval of the version to be published: WS, MSM, GMC, TD, TIW, AG, KJF, AA, ATT, MO, SNS, MRB, DEK, RL, BAN-T, AJS, JZ, CS, and, JL. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Clinical trial number: NCT01265498 Author Manuscr ipt Author Manuscr ipt Author

FAQs

What relationship does the study examine between adipose tissue and NASH?

It examines whether reductions in adipose tissue compartment volumes measured by MRI correlate with hepatic histologic improvement in NASH.

Which trial data are used in this analysis?

The study uses prospectively acquired data from the multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled FLINT trial evaluating obeticholic acid in NASH treatment.

What participants were included and what assessments were performed?

Adult participants with paired liver biopsies and abdominal MRI exams at baseline and end-of-treatment (72 weeks) were included, with adipose tissue volumes obtained by MRI.

Sep 15, 2026

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