Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2024 Jan 8;14:1322326. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1322326. eCollection 2023.
Obesity is known to increase the risk and severity of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Increased inflamed metabolic activity of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is considered as a crucial underlying mechanism for the harmful effects of obesity. In this study, we aimed to investigate the inflamed metabolic activity of VAT with F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and their association with AMD.
A total of 57 elderly participants (aged ≥ 50 years) who underwent F-FDG PET/CT for health screening and subsequent fundoscopic exam for complaint of recently impaired vision were enrolled. The metabolic activity of VAT was measured from the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of VAT. The early AMD participant was defined as the participant with either eye satisfying AMD and without any sign of advanced AMD (neovascular AMD or geographic atrophy). The late AMD participant was defined as the participant with either eye satisfying advanced AMD.
VAT SUVmax was highest in participants with late AMD, intermediate in early AMD, and lowest in non-AMD participants. The levels of systemic inflammation surrogate markers were also highest in late AMD group. Furthermore, VAT SUVmax was positively correlated with systemic inflammation surrogate markers and independently associated with the late AMD.
The metabolic activity of VAT evaluated by F-FDG PET/CT was associated with the severity of AMD and synchronized with the level of systemic inflammation. Thus, VAT SUVmax could be potentially employed as a surrogate marker of obesity-driven VAT inflammation associated with AMD.
肥胖已知会增加年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）的风险和严重程度。内脏脂肪组织（VAT）的炎症代谢活性增加被认为是肥胖有害影响的关键潜在机制。在这项研究中，我们旨在通过 F-氟脱氧葡萄糖（FDG）正电子发射断层扫描/计算机断层扫描（PET/CT）研究 VAT 的炎症代谢活性及其与 AMD 的关系。
共纳入 57 名接受 F-FDG PET/CT 健康筛查的老年参与者（年龄≥50 岁），并随后因视力下降而进行眼底检查。从 VAT 的最大标准化摄取值（SUVmax）测量 VAT 的代谢活性。早期 AMD 参与者定义为双眼符合 AMD 且无任何晚期 AMD（新生血管性 AMD 或地图样萎缩）迹象的参与者。晚期 AMD 参与者定义为双眼符合晚期 AMD 的参与者。
晚期 AMD 组的 VAT SUVmax 最高，早期 AMD 组次之，非 AMD 组最低。晚期 AMD 组的全身炎症替代标志物水平也最高。此外，VAT SUVmax 与全身炎症替代标志物呈正相关，与晚期 AMD 独立相关。
通过 F-FDG PET/CT 评估的 VAT 代谢活性与 AMD 的严重程度相关，并与全身炎症水平同步。因此，VAT SUVmax 可能可作为与 AMD 相关的肥胖驱动的 VAT 炎症的替代标志物。
