Changes in mesenteric fat thickness and its clinical impact in bariatric surgery

Obesity, especially central obesity is associated with increased risk of metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The study aimed to investigate the associations of the changes of abdominal fat thicknesses with changes of anthropometric indexes and improvements of metabolic phenotypes in patients with obesity and T2DM before and after bariatric surgery. Between April 2016-January 2017, 34 adult patients with concurrent obesity and T2DM scheduled for different bariatric surgeries were prospectively evaluated by ultrasound before and one-year after bariatric surgery to determine abdominal fat thicknesses (mesenteric fat, preperitoneal fat and subcutaneous fat) and NAFLD. At 1 year, of the 25 patients that finished the study, significant decrease in mesenteric-fat-thickness was associated with significant reduction of obesity, remission of metabolic syndrome and NAFLD (All, p<0.05). Remission of NAFLD, metabolic syndrome and T2DM were achieved in 60%, 32% and 44% (All, p<0.05) of the patients, respectively. Lower baseline mesenteric fat thickness was associated with remission of metabolic syndrome. Significant decrease in mesenteric-fat-thickness was associated with significant reduction of obesity, and with the remission of metabolic syndrome and NAFLD. Lower baseline mesenteric-fat-thickness may have the potential to predict metabolic syndrome remission after bariatric surgery.