Objectives: We assessed whether liver fat content, as determined by MRI, correlates with blood pressure (BP), a major vascular risk factor, in individuals from the general population without history of stroke and coronary or peripheral artery disease. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 384 participants (161 women; aged 39–73 years) of a MRI substudy of the KORA FF4 survey were used. Hepatic fat fraction (HFF) was measured in the left and right lobe of the liver using single voxel multiecho ¹H-spectroscopy and at the level of the portal vein using a multiecho Dixon-sequence. Associations of HFF with SBP and DBP as well as hypertension were assessed by right censored normal regression (accounting for antihypertensive treatment) and by logistic regression, respectively. Results: High levels of HFF measured on the level of the portal vein (90th percentile, 21.8%), compared with low HFF levels (10th percentile, 1.7%), were associated with higher SBP (131 vs. 122 mmHg; overall P = 0.001), higher DBP (82 vs. 76 mmHg, P < 0.001) and with higher odds of hypertension [odds ratio (OR) = 2.16, P = 0.025]. A level of 5.13% (54th percentile) was identified as optimal HFF cut-off for the prediction of hypertension (OR = 2.00, P = 0.015). Alcohol consumption emerged as an effect modifier for the association between HFF and hypertension (nonalcohol drinker: OR = 3.76, P = 0.025; alcohol drinker: OR = 1.59, P = 0.165). Conclusion: MRI-derived subclinical HFF is associated with SBP and DBP as well as with hypertension in participants from the general population without history of cardiovascular disease.

The German government initiated the Network University Medicine (NUM) in early 2020 to improve national research activities on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. To this end, 36 German Academic Medical Centers started to collaborate on 13 projects, with the largest being the National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON). The NAPKON’s goal is creating the most comprehensive Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cohort in Germany. Within NAPKON, adult and pediatric patients are observed in three complementary cohort platforms (Cross-Sectoral, High-Resolution and Population-Based) from the initial infection until up to three years of follow-up. Study procedures comprise comprehensive clinical and imaging diagnostics, quality-of-life assessment, patient-reported outcomes and biosampling. The three cohort platforms build on four infrastructure core units (Interaction, Biosampling, Epidemiology, and Integration) and collaborations with NUM projects. Key components of the data capture, regulatory, and data privacy are based on the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research. By April 01, 2022, 34 university and 40 non-university hospitals have enrolled 5298 patients with local data quality reviews performed on 4727 (89%). 47% were female, the median age was 52 (IQR 36–62-) and 50 pediatric cases were included. 44% of patients were hospitalized, 15% admitted to an intensive care unit, and 12% of patients deceased while enrolled. 8845 visits with biosampling in 4349 patients were conducted by April 03, 2022. In this overview article, we summarize NAPKON’s design, relevant milestones including first study population characteristics, and outline the potential of NAPKON for German and international research activities. Trial registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04768998 . https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04747366 . https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04679584

Objective:To study the relationship of area- and volumetric-based visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT and SAT) by MRI and their ratio in subjects with impaired glucose metabolism from the...

Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), however, whether adipose tissue relates to dyslipidemia, and consequently to cardiovascular events remains unknown. Thus, we investigated the association of adipose tissue with circulating lipoproteins and triglycerides (TG) in subjects without CVD. 384 participants from the KORA-MRI study (mean age 56.2 ± 9.2 years; 41.9% female) underwent whole-body 3T-MRI. Visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) derived from T1-DIXON-sequence using a semi-automatic algorithm. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and TG were measured. Linear regression was applied to examine the relationships between adipose tissue, circulating lipoproteins, and TG, adjusting for risk factors. VAT was associated with total cholesterol (per SD increase) (ß = 0.39, p < 0.001). Total adipose tissue (TAT) and VAT were inversely associated with HDL (ß = −0.09, p = 0.009; ß = −0.14, p < 0.001), and positively associated with LDL (ß = 0.32, p < 0.001; ß = 0.37, p < 0.001). All adipose tissues were associated with TG (ß = 0.20, p < 0.001; ß = 0.27, p < 0.001; ß = 0.11, p = 0.004). Stratified analysis by sex and body mass index (BMI) was confirmatory in women and in individuals with BMI < 30. Our results suggest that adipose tissue plays an important role in increasing CVD risk independent of BMI, whereas gender imbalance may be explained by accurate characterization and quantification of adipose tissue.

Local, abdominal fat depots may be related to alterations in cardiac function and morphology due to a metabolic linkage. Thus, we aimed to determine their association with subtle cardiac changes and the potential interaction with hyperglycemic metabolic states. Subjects from the general population and without history of cardiovascular disease were drawn from the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg FF4 cohort and underwent 3 T cardiac and body MRI. Measures of abdominal adiposity such as hepatic proton-density fat fraction [PDFFhepatic], subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral abdominal fat (VAT) as well as established cardiac left-ventricular (LV) measures including LV remodeling index (LVCI) were derived. Associations were determined using linear regression analysis based on standard deviation normalized predictors. Among a total of 374 subjects (56.2 ± 9.1 years, 58% males), 49 subjects had diabetes, 99 subjects had prediabetes and 226 represented normal controls. Only subtle cardiac alterations were observed (e.g. LVCI: 1.13 ± 0.30). While SAT was not associated, increasing VAT and increasing PDFFhepatic were independently associated with increasing LVCI (β = 0.11 and 0.06, respectively), decreasing LV end-diastolic volume (β = − 6.70 and 3.23, respectively), and decreasing LV stroke volume (β = − 3.91 and − 2.20, respectively). Hyperglycemic state did not modify the associations between VAT or PDFF and LV measures (interaction term: all p ≥ 0.29). In a healthy population, VAT but also PDFFhepatic were associated with subclinical measures of LV remodeling without evidence for a modifying effect of hyperglycemic state.