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Body Composition Profile Report

AMRA® Profiler 3 enables the MRI-based, individualized measurement of fat and muscle volumes with high accuracy and precision. These measurements assist in the diagnosis and monitoring of metabolic diseases, muscle diseases and metabolic components of diseases in a general population.

An association between a low/high biomarker value and a disease does not necessarily mean that an individual with a low/high biomarker value has or will develop that disease.
In the report context, we have chosen to use the more general term fat in lieu of adipose tissue for visceral and subcutaneous fat. The more scientific term is adipose tissue, which normally consists of approximately 80% fat.

Fat Ratio

Describes the balance between fat and muscle tissue. A higher / lower value indicates a larger / smaller amount of fat in relation to muscles.

Details: (VF + SCF) / (VF + SCF + Thigh Muscle Volume).

Weight to Muscle Ratio

This ratio compares the body weight to the amount of thigh muscle as a measure of the amount of muscle available to carry body weight. A higher / lower value indicates a smaller / larger amount of muscle in relation to body weight.

Details: Body weight / Thigh Muscle Volume.

Visceral Fat (VF)

Visceral fat, or intra-abdominal fat, is stored around and between the abdominal organs. Increased visceral fat is associated with increased cardiac risk [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], type 2 diabetes [5], [6], liver inflammation and fibrosis [7], and certain types of cancer [8], [9].

Details: Measured as adipose tissue within the abdominal cavity, excluding adipose tissue outside the abdominal skeletal muscles and adipose tissue and lipids within the cavity and posterior of the spine and back muscles.

Subcutaneous Fat (SCF)

Subcutaneous fat is one of the main compartments in the body where large amounts of fat are stored. Subcutaneous fat by itself has only shown weak, or no, associations to adiposity related diseases and traditional risk factors[1],[2],[4].

Details: Subcutaneous adipose tissue in the abdomen from the top of the femoral head to the top of the thoracic vertebrae T9.

Visceral Fat Ratio

The fraction of abdominal fat consisting of visceral fat indicating how the individual tends to store fat. Higher values indicate an unfavorable fat distribution associated with increased cardiac risk. [1], [2].

Details: VF / (VF + SCF)

Liver Fat

Increased liver fat may lead to advanced fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma [12], [13], and is also linked to the development of type 2 diabetes [12], [14].

Details: Measured as the average proton-density fat fraction in regions of interest in the liver.

Thigh Muscle Volume(s)

A low or decreasing muscle volume has been seen in sarcopenia (age-related frailty) and cachexia (disease-related wasting) [15], [16].

Details: Posterior thigh includes gluteus muscles, iliacus, adductor muscles, and hamstring muscles. Anterior thigh includes quadriceps femoris, sartorius, and tensor fascia latae.

Muscle Fat Infiltration (MFI)

MFI is also known as intramuscular fat, and is the fraction of inactive tissue in the muscle. Higher MFI indicates lower quality and functionality of the muscle and has been associated with reduced mobility and increased risk for type 2 diabetes [11].

Details: Measured as the average proton-density fat fraction in the anterior thigh muscles.

1

Neeland IJ, Turer AT, Ayers CR, et al. Body Fat Distribution and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Obese Adults. J Am Coll Cardiol 2015;65(19):2150-1.

2

Lee JJ, Pedley A, Hoffmann U, Massaro JM, Fox CS. Association of Changes in Abdominal Fat Quantity and Quality With Incident Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors. J Am Coll Cardiol 2016;68(14):1509-1521.

3

Liu J, Fox CS, Hickson DA, et al. Impact of Abdominal Visceral and Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: The Jackson Heart Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2010;95(12):5419 –26.

4

Neeland IJ, Ayers CR, Rohatgi AK, et al. Associations of Visceral and Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue with Markers of Cardiac and Metabolic Risk in Obese Adults. Obesity 2013;21(9):e439–47.

5

Iwasa M, Mifuji-Moroka R, Hara N, et al. Visceral Fat Volume Predicts New-onset Type 2 Diabetes in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C. Diabetes Res and Clin Pract 2011;94(3):468-70.

6

Kurioka S, Murakami Y, Nishiki M, Sohmiya M, Koshimura K, Kato Y. Relationship Between Visceral Fat Accumulation and Anti-lipolytic Action of Insulin in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Endocr J 2002;49(4):459-64.

7

Van der Poorten D, Milner KL, Hui J, et al. Visceral Fat: A Key Mediator of Steatohepatitis in Metabolic Liver Disease. Hepatology 2008;48(2):449-57.

8

Doyle SL, Donohoe CL, Lysaght J, Reynolds JV. Visceral Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome, Insulin Resistance, and Cancer. Proc Nutr Soc 2012;71(1)181-9.

9

Britton KA, Massaro JM, Murabito JM, Kreger BE, Hoffmann U, Fox CS. Body Fat Distribution, Incident Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer, and All-cause Mortality. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;62(10):921-5.

10

Marcus RL, Addison O, Dibble LE, Foreman KB, Morrell G, Lastayo P. Intramuscular Adipose Tissue, Sarcopenia, and Mobility Function in Older Individuals. J Aging Res 2012;2012:629637.

11

Goodpaster BH, Thaete FL, Kelley DE. Thigh Adipose Tissue Distribution is Associated with Insulin Resistance in Obesity and in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Am J Clin Nutr 2000;71(4)885-92.

12

Ekstedt M, Franzén LE, Mathiesen UL, et al. Long-term Follow-up of Patients with NAFLD and Elevated Liver Enzymes. J Hepatol 2006;44(4):865-73.

13

Wattacheril J, Chalasani N. Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD): is it Really a Serious Condition? J Hepatol 2012;56(4):1580–4.

14

Bamberg F, Hetterich H, Rospleszcz S, et al. Subclinical Disease Burden as Assessed by Whole-Body MRI in Subjects with Prediabetes, Subjects with Diabetes, and Normal Control Subjects From the General Population: The KORA-MRI Study. Diabetes 2017;66(1):158-69.

15

Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, et al. Sarcopenia: European Consensus on Definition and Diagnosis, Report of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People. Age Aging 2010;39(4):412–23.

16

Thomas D. R. Loss of skeletal muscle mass in aging: Examining the relationship of starvation, sarcopenia and cachexia. Clinical Nutrition 2007;26(4):389–99.

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