Phenotyping of the Visceral Adipose Tissue Using Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Pigs

Weigand, Anna C.; Schweizer, Helen; Knob, Deise Aline und Scholz, Armin M. (2020): Phenotyping of the Visceral Adipose Tissue Using Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in Pigs. In: Animals, Bd. 10, Nr. 7, 1165

Abstract

Simple Summary Fat depots in the abdomen and around the organs, which are called visceral adipose tissue, play an important role in the field of obesity-associated diseases in humans and for pork production as well. Magnetic resonance imaging-as reference method-and a special X-ray technique called dual energy X-ray absorptiometry were used to measure the visceral adipose tissue in 120 pigs in order to analyze the accuracy of a special X-ray software algorithm (the "CoreScan" mode), and to study sex or crossbreed-related effects. The "CoreScan" mode overestimates the amount of visceral adipose tissue in comparison with magnetic resonance imaging, while castrated males tend to accumulate more visceral adipose tissue than females, and the first crossbred generation deposits more fat than the second generation. The objective of this study was to phenotype visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in pigs. In this context, the ability to detect VAT by using the DXA CoreScan mode within the enCORE software, version 17 (GE Healthcare) was evaluated in comparison with MRI measurements (Siemens Magnetom C!) of the same body region. A number of 120 crossbred pigs of the F1 and F2 generation, with the parental breeds Large White, Landrace, Pietrain, and Duroc, were examined at an age of 150 days. A whole-body scan in two different modes ("thick", "standard") was carried out by a GE Lunar iDXA scanner. Very strong relationships (R-2= 0.95, RMSE = 175 cm(3)) were found for VAT between the two DXA modes. The comparison of VAT measured by MRI and DXA shows high linear relationships ("thick": R-2= 0.76, RMSE = 399.25 cm(3)/"standard": R-2= 0.71, RMSE = 443.42 cm(3)), but is biased, according to the Bland-Altman analysis. A variance analysis of VAT shows significant differences for both DXA modes and for MRI between male and female pigs, as well as between F1 and F2. In conclusion, DXA "CoreScan" has the ability to estimate VAT in pigs with a close relationship to MRI but needs bias correction.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Tiermedizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 2076-2615
• Sprache: Englisch