Associations between liver 18F fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose accumulation and various clinical parameters in a Japanese population: influence of the metabolic syndrome

Liver demonstrates a heterogeneous F-18 fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose (F-18-FDG) uptake pattern and sometimes shows an abnormally increased uptake even when there is no malignant tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships of liver F-18-FDG uptake as related to physical factors, fatty liver, blood glucose (BG), and other biochemical data. F-18-FDG positron emission tomography (PET) imaging was performed in 101 consecutive subjects for cancer screening. Multiple stepwise regression analysis was used to define the best predictors of the liver standardized uptake value (SUV) among height, weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, BG and other biochemical data, i.e., aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, total protein, total bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase. Furthermore, we evaluated the association between liver F-18-FDG uptake and the metabolic syndrome. The independent factors for increased liver F-18-FDG uptake (mean SUV >= 2) were BMI (P < 0.0001), triglycerides (P = 0.0007), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = 0.0013). Other factors were not significantly associated with liver F-18-FDG uptake. In addition, the liver F-18-FDG uptake of metabolic syndrome subjects was significantly higher than that of a non-metabolic syndrome subjects. BMI was the strongest determinant of liver F-18-FDG uptake, and the liver F-18-FDG uptake of metabolic syndrome subjects was significantly higher than that of non-metabolic syndrome subjects. This result suggests that a subject with a high liver F-18-FDG uptake should be screened for the metabolic syndrome.