We investigated the effect of weight loss on fat accumulation in six different tissues and associated metabolic characteristics in individuals with obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Baseline assessments were done for individuals with obesity, NAFLD, and MetS (n=33), individuals with obesity (n=28), and lean individuals (n=27), and at 1 and 5 months for the NAFLD-MetS group during personalized weight loss intervention. All measured fat depots were increased in individuals with obesity compared with lean (p<0.001), whereas pancreas (p=0.024) and visceral fat (p=0.007) were elevated in the NAFLD-MetS group compared with the obesity control group. During weight loss, fat content was reduced in all investigated tissues after 1- and 5-months, except for erector spinae muscle fat that was reduced after 5 months. Finally, reductions in alanine aminotransferase, fasting plasma glucose and insulin, waist circumference, and diastolic blood pressure were key for explaining liver fat content after 5 months. Multiple fat depots were increased simultaneously in individuals with obesity, with personalized weight loss intervention leading to reductions in all investigated tissues, especially after 1 month, in individuals with obesity, NAFLD, and MetS. The trial registry number: NCT05699863
Ulanowska et al. (Fri,) studied this question.