Lidia S Szczepaniak1, Edward W Szczepaniak1,
Qi Peng2, Ildiko Lingvay3
1The Heart Institute,
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 2Radiology,
University of Texas, Health Science Center, San Antonio, TX, United States; 3Endocrinology,
University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
Ethnic minorities African American and Latinos are disproportionally affected by obesity and type 2 diabetes for reasons not completely understood. We present here results of our study designed to provide new insights into understanding the mechanism of beta cell dysfunction. We focused on the role of fat deposition in the pancreas (pancreatic steatosis). We used localized proton MRS to measure pancreatic steatosis in vivo and frequently sampled IV glucose tolerance test to measure insulin secretion. We detected diverse patterns of pancreatic fat storage that may contribute to ethnic variations in pathogenesis of insulin secretion.