In a multivariable analysis, patients with steatotic liver disease and increased perirenal fat thickness had a 2.71-fold higher likelihood of metabolic syndrome.

The study associates greater perirenal fat thickness with metabolic syndrome prevalence among patients with steatotic liver disease. This retrospective analysis involved 250 patients, comprising 140 men and 110 women, who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-proton density fat fraction imaging between October 2018 and February 2020. Perirenal fat thickness was measured in four directions around both kidneys using MRI.

Results, published in Scientific Reports, demonstrated a significant correlation between perirenal fat thickness and metabolic syndrome indicators, such as waist circumference (γ = 0.568), hepatic fat fraction (γ = 0.426), and body mass index (γ = 0.524), with all values reaching statistical significance (p < 0.001). Patients diagnosed with metabolic syndrome had greater perirenal fat thickness, averaging 76.8 mm compared to 65.1 mm in those without metabolic syndrome (p = 0.004). In a multivariate analysis, those with higher perirenal fat thickness demonstrated a 2.71-fold increased likelihood of having metabolic syndrome, independent of hepatic fat levels.

Receiver operating characteristic analysis provided sex-specific cutoffs for perirenal fat thickness in predicting metabolic syndrome, with thresholds of 80 mm for men (sensitivity 62.9%, specificity 66.7%) and 49.7 mm for women (sensitivity 81.8%, specificity 66.7%). The area under the curve for predicting metabolic syndrome was 0.651 in men and 0.728 in women, indicating a moderate association between perirenal fat thickness and metabolic syndrome risk.

These findings suggest that MRI-assessed perirenal fat thickness is associated with metabolic syndrome risk in patients with steatotic liver disease and may warrant further investigation as a potential component of risk assessment. Researchers emphasize the need for prospective studies to clarify causal mechanisms and validate these results across larger and more diverse populations.

The researchers report no competing interests.