Protocol for measuring intrahepatic triglyceride content in adults with non-alcohol fatty liver disease

Mark Ezpeleta; Kelsey Gabel; Sofia Cienfuegos; Shuhao Lin; Vasiliki Pavlou; Krista A Varady

doi:10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102230

Protocol for measuring intrahepatic triglyceride content in adults with non-alcohol fatty liver disease

STAR Protoc. 2023 Apr 17;4(2):102230. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2023.102230. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Mark Ezpeleta¹, Kelsey Gabel¹, Sofia Cienfuegos¹, Shuhao Lin¹, Vasiliki Pavlou¹, Krista A Varady²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
² Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: varady@uic.edu.

Abstract

Here, we present a protocol for conducting magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) to measure intrahepatic triglyceride (IHTG) content in adults with non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We describe steps for screening patients for NAFLD, MRI-PDFF scanning, and using MRI-PDFF data to quantify IHTG. This protocol can be repeated sequentially and used in weight loss trials. However, it is limited to patients with NAFLD as it does not assess non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or hepatic fibrosis. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Ezpeleta et al. (2023).¹.

Keywords: Clinical Protocol; Health Sciences; Metabolism.