Fatty Liver Disease May Be Less Common in Type 1 Diabetes

BACKGROUND: Patients with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) lack the portal/peripheral insulin gradient, which might diminish insulin stimulation of hepatic lipogenesis and protect against development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We compared liver fat content and insulin sensitivity of hepatic glucose production and lipolysis between overweight T1DM patients and non-diabetic subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared overweight adult T1DM patients and non-diabeticsubjects matched for age, BMI and gender. Liver fat content, body composition and insulin sensitivity were measured. We also hypothesized that low liver fat might protect from obesity-associated increasesin insulin requirements and, therefore, determined insulin requirements across BMIcategories in type 1 diabetes patients.

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