Relationship of Serum Bile Acids with Fat Deposition in the Pancreas, Liver, and Skeletal Muscle

Abstract

Introduction

Ectopic fat deposition is well appreciated as a key contributor to digestive and liver diseases. Bile acids have emerged as pleiotropic signalling molecules involved in numerous metabolic pathways. The aim was to study the associations of bile acids with ectopic fat deposition and lipid panel.

Methods

A single 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner was employed to measure fat deposition in the pancreas, liver, and skeletal muscle in 76 adults. Blood samples were drawn to determine total bile acids and lipid panel. Linear regression analyses were run, taking into account age, sex, body mass index, and other covariates.

Results

The studied ectopic fat depots were not significantly associated with levels of total bile acids in serum. Total bile acids were significantly associated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol – consistently in both the unadjusted (p = 0.018) and all adjusted models (p = 0.012 in the most adjusted model). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol, and triglycerides were not significantly associated with total bile acids in both the unadjusted and all adjusted models.

Conclusion

Fat deposition in the pancreas, liver, and skeletal muscle is not associated with circulating levels of total bile acids. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol is the only component of lipid panel that is associated with total bile acids.

Keywords:

• bile acids
• cholesterol
• triglycerides
• intra-pancreatic fat
• skeletal muscle fat
• intra-hepatic fat

Ethics Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the approved by the Health and Disability Ethics Committee (13/STH/182).

Acknowledgment

The study was part of the Clinical and epidemiOlogical inveStigations in Metabolism, nutritiOn, and pancreatic diseaseS (COSMOS) programme.

Disclosure

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

COSMOS is supported, in part, by the Royal Society of New Zealand (Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to Professor Max Petrov), which played no role in the study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of data, or writing of the manuscript.