AUTHOR=Wang Xiaoyu , Li Yifan , Sun Mingyu , Guo Gaoyue , Yang Wanting , Hui Yangyang , Yu Zihan , Li Chaoqun , Fan Xiaofei , Wang Bangmao , Zhang Jie , Zhao Xingliang , Jiang Kui , Sun Chao TITLE=Visceral Adiposity Associates With Malnutrition Risk Determined by Royal Free Hospital-Nutritional Prioritizing Tool in Cirrhosis JOURNAL=Frontiers in Nutrition VOLUME=8 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.766350 DOI=10.3389/fnut.2021.766350 ISSN=2296-861X ABSTRACT=

Mounting evidence has suggested the clinical significance of body composition abnormalities in the context of cirrhosis. Herein, we aimed to investigate the association between visceral adiposity and malnutrition risk in 176 hospitalized patients with cirrhosis. The adiposity parameters were obtained by computed tomography (CT) as follows: total adipose tissue index (TATI), visceral adipose tissue index (VATI), subcutaneous adipose tissue index (SATI), and visceral to subcutaneous adipose tissue area ratio (VSR). Malnutrition risk was screened using Royal Free Hospital-Nutritional Prioritizing Tool (RFH-NPT). Visceral adiposity was determined given a higher VSR based on our previously established cutoffs. Multivariate analysis implicated that male gender (OR = 2.884, 95% CI: 1.360–6.115, p = 0.006), BMI (OR = 0.879, 95% CI: 0.812–0.951, P = 0.001), albumin (OR = 0.934, 95% CI: 0.882–0.989, P = 0.019), and visceral adiposity (OR = 3.413, 95% CI: 1.344–8.670, P = 0.010) were independent risk factors of malnutrition risk. No significant difference was observed regarding TATI, SATI, and VATI among patients with low or moderate and high risk of malnutrition. In contrast, the proportion of male patients embracing visceral adiposity was higher in high malnutrition risk group compared with that in low or moderate group (47.27 vs. 17.86%, p = 0.009). Moreover, this disparity was of borderline statistical significance in women (19.05 vs. 5.88%, p = 0.061). Assessing adipose tissue distribution might potentiate the estimation of malnutrition risk in cirrhotics. It is pivotal to recognize visceral adiposity and develop targeted therapeutic strategies.