Local researchers said they have found a clue to explain the relationship between acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and obesity.
Obesity is a major cause of AMI, but the relationship between visceral fat inflammatory activity, a key mechanism of obesity, and acute myocardial infarction has not been identified so far.
On Tuesday, Professor Kim Sung-eun at the Department of Nuclear Medicine of Korea University Anam Hospital and her colleagues said they have found that the inflammatory activity of visceral fat was high in patients with AMI and that it was closely associated with atherosclerotic inflammation of the carotid artery.
The research team used 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT), a nuclear medicine imaging technique.
The study results showed that the 18F-FDG PET/CT value indicating the inflammatory activity of visceral fat was five times higher in patients with AMI than the control group, and three times higher than the chronic stable angina group. This means that visceral fat inflammation activity was proportional to the severity of coronary artery disease.
The research team also said the nuclear medicine imaging indicator correlated with indicators of arteriosclerosis of the carotid artery, which leads to the onset of cardiovascular disease. Thus, the indicator can be used as a predictor of AMI, they said.
“This study is meaningful in that we imaged visceral fat inflammatory activity through non-invasive nuclear medicine imaging technique in AMI patients,” Kim said.
Professor Pahk Ki-soo at the Nuclear Medicine Department of Korea University Anam Hospital, who was also part of the research team, said the key to obesity treatment was to prevent cardiovascular and metabolic diseases by reducing visceral fat inflammation.
Thus, the 18F-FDG PET/CT evaluating the degree of visceral fat inflammation will be highly useful, he said.
The study, titled “Association of glucose uptake of visceral fat and acute myocardial infarction: a pilot 18F‑FDG PET/CT study,” was published in Cardiovascular Diabetology.