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Background Brain change can occur in primary biliary cholangitis ( PBC), potentially as a result of cholestatic and/or inflammatory processes. This change is linked to systemic symptoms of fatigue and cognitive impairment. Aim To identify whether brain change occurs early in PBC. If the change develops early and is progressive, it may explain the difficulty in treating these symptoms. Methods Early disease brain change was explored in 13 patients with newly diagnosed biopsy-proven precirrhotic PBC using magnetisation transfer, diffusion-weighted imaging and 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Results were compared to 17 healthy volunteers. Results Cerebral magnetisation transfer ratios were reduced in early PBC, compared to healthy volunteers, in the thalamus, putamen and head of caudate with no greater reduction in patients with greater symptom severity. Mean apparent diffusion coefficients were increased in the thalamus only. No 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy abnormalities were seen. Serum manganese levels were elevated in all PBC patients, but no relationship was seen with imaging or symptom parameters. There were no correlations between neuroimaging data, laboratory data, symptom severity scores or age. Conclusions This is the first study to be performed in this precirrhotic patient population, and we have highlighted that neuroimaging changes are present at a much earlier stage than previously demonstrated. The neuroimaging abnormalities suggest that the brain changes seen in PBC occur early in the pathological process, even before significant liver damage has occurred. If such changes are linked to symptom pathogenesis, this could have important implications for the timing of second-line-therapy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Ectopic fat deposition in the pancreas and its association with hepatic steatosis have not previously been examined in patients with biopsy-proven non-alcoholic fatty liver disease ( NAFLD). Aim To quantify pancreatic fat using a novel magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) technique and determine whether it is associated with hepatic steatosis and/or fibrosis in patients with NAFLD. Methods This is a cross-sectional study including 43 adult patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD who underwent clinical evaluation, biochemical testing and MRI. The liver biopsy assessment was performed using the NASH- CRN histological scoring system, and liver and pancreas fat quantification was performed using a novel, validated MRI biomarker; the proton density fat fraction. Results The average MRI-determined pancreatic fat in patients with NAFLD was 8.5% and did not vary significantly between head, body, and tail of the pancreas. MRI-determined pancreatic fat content increased significantly with increasing histology-determined hepatic steatosis grade; 4.6% in grade 1; 7.7% in grade 2; 13.0% in grade 3 ( P = 0.004) respectively. Pancreatic fat content was lower in patients with histology-determined liver fibrosis than in those without fibrosis (11.2% in stage 0 fibrosis vs. 5.8% in stage 1-2 fibrosis, and 6.9% in stage 3-4 fibrosis, P = 0.013). Pancreatic fat did not correlate with age, body mass index or diabetes status. Conclusions In patients with NAFLD, increased pancreatic fat is associated with hepatic steatosis. However, liver fibrosis is inversely associated with pancreatic fat content. Further studies are needed to determine underlying mechanisms to understand if pancreatic steatosis affects progression of NAFLD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response from the authors of the article "Association between novel MRI-estimated pancreatic fat and liver histology-determined steatosis and fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease" in the 2013 issue is presented.