Hepatic Fat in Participants With and Without Incident Diabetes in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcome Study

PURPOSE: To characterize hepatic fat content and fatty liver prevalence, their determinants, and effect of interventions to prevent diabetes using computerized tomography in a cohorth prediabetes, in those developing diabetes versus not. METHODS: We measured liver fat as liver attenuation (LA) in Hounsfield units in 1876 participants at ~14 years following randomization into the Diabetes Prevention Program, which tested the effects of lifestyle or metformin interventions versus standard care to prevent diabetes. LA was compared among intervention groups and in those with versus without diabetes, and associations with baseline and follow-up measurements of anthropometric and metabolic covariates were assessed. RESULTS: There were no differences in liver fat between treatment groups at 14 years of follow-up. Participants with diabetes had lower LA (mean +/- SD: 46+/-16 vs. 51+/-14HU; p