Pancreatic Lipid Deposits: Is there a Connection to Pre-diabetes and Diabetes Mellitus?

Objective: The study focused on elucidating the presence of pancreatic steatosis in pre-diabetes and diabetes mellitus along with investigating the correlation between pancreatic steatosis and metabolic parameters.

Methods: This research involved 314 patients who sought treatment at internal medicine outpatient and inpatient clinics from April 2022 to May 2023. Patients who underwent non-enhanced abdominal computed tomography for any reason were included in the study. The patients were categorized into three groups: healthy controls(n=103), diabetes individuals(n=109), and prediabetes individuals(n=102).

Results: The study aimed to explore the relationship between pancreatic steatosis and metabolic parameters. The findings revealed that HDL level, albumin, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) showed a positive correlation with pancreatic density, indicating a lower degree of steatosis in the pancreatic tissue. Conversely, patients with higher levels of HbA1c, uric acid, blood glucose levels, body mass index, INR exhibited a higher degree of pancreatic steatosis.

Furthermore, the research identified the presence of pancreatic steatosis in prediabetes patients. There was no significant difference in pancreatic steatosis between prediabetes and diabetes patients, suggesting that their pancreatic densities were statistically similar(p=0,08).

Conclusion: Our study investigated pancreatic steatosis in diabetes and pre-diabetes patients, and its relationship with metabolic parameters.The findings suggest that pancreatic steatosis is also present in the prediabetes phase and it has a correlation with metabolic parameters seen in diabetes process.