Magnetic resonance study of visceral, subcutaneous, liver and pancreas fat changes after 12 weeks intermittent fasting in obese participants with prediabetes

BACKGROUND:It is not clear whether there are differences in proportions of fat loss from visceral:subcutaneous depots by probiotic supplementation, ethnicity or sex during weight loss; or whether visceral/pancreatic fat depot changes are related to changes in HbA1c. Our objective is to investigate whether weight loss from different fat depots is related to these factors during weight loss achieved by intermittent fasting. METHOD:Prediabetes participants on 5:2 intermittent fasting were randomized 1:1 to either daily probiotic or placebo for 12 weeks. Twenty-four patients had magnetic resonance imaging data at baseline and 12 weeks. RESULTS:After 12 weeks of intermittent fasting, subcutaneous fat (%) changed from 35.9 ± 3.1 to 34.4 ± 3.2, visceral fat (%) from 15.8 ± 1.3 to 14.8 ± 1.2, liver fat (%) from 8.7 ± 0.8 to 7.5 ± 0.7 and pancreatic fat (%) from 7.7 ± 0.5 to 6.5 ± 0.5 (all p < 0.001). Changes in weight, HbA1c, SAT, VAT, LF and PF did not differ significantly between probiotic and placebo groups. CONCLUSION:Overall weight loss was correlated with fat loss from subcutaneous depots. Losses from different fat depots did not correlate with changes in HbA1c or differ by probiotic supplementation, ethnicity or sex.