Inflammatory bowel diseasesJul 22, 2021

Amount of Belly Fat Linked to Treatment Success and Surgery Risk in IBD Patients Starting Anti-TNF Therapy

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Apr 1, 2026

Abstract

The final cohort included 176 patients undergoing anti-TNF treatment for inflammatory bowel disease.

At 12 months, patients with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume between 1500-2999 cm3 had 3.52 times higher odds of treatment response compared to those with volume less than 1500 cm3.
No significant differences in treatment response were observed at 6 months.
VAT volume ≥3000 cm3 did not show improved treatment response compared to volume <1500 cm3.
A visceral fat index (VFI) of ≥0.67 was associated with a 48.22 times higher odds of surgery at 6 months compared to VFI <0.33.
At 12 months, VFI ≥0.67 remained associated with a 20.94 times higher odds of surgery compared to VFI <0.33.
Post hoc analysis suggests that VAT may influence how the drug is processed in the body.

Simplified

BACKGROUND: Data describing the effect of obesity on antitumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment response are inconsistent. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is a superior marker of adiposity to body mass index. However, its effect on treatment response is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effect of VAT on anti-TNF treatment response.

METHODS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients starting anti-TNF agents between January 1, 2009, and July 31, 2019, were included. 3-dimensional measurements of VAT volume and visceral fat index (visceral:subcutaneous adipose tissue ratio; VFI) were obtained from computed tomography (CT) scans. Subjects were categorized by predefined volume cutoffs (<1500cm3, 1500-2999cm3, ≥3000cm3) and VFI (<0.33, 0.33-0.66, ≥0.67). Primary outcomes included a composite treatment response end point at 6 and 12 months. Secondary outcomes were surgery at 6 and 12 months. Multivariable logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

RESULTS: The final cohort included 176 patients. No significant differences in treatment response at 6 months was observed. At 12 months, compared with volume <1500cm3, patients with volume 1500-2999cm3 had higher odds of response (aOR, 3.52; 95% CI, 1.16-10.71; P = .023), whereas volume ≥3000cm3 did not. Compared with VFI<0.33, VFI ≥0.67 had higher odds of surgery at 6 (aOR, 48.22; 95% CI, 4.73-491.57; P = .023) and 12 months (aOR, 20.94; 95% CI, 3.14-139.67; P = .004). Post hoc analysis suggested VAT may affect drug pharmacokinetics.

CONCLUSIONS: We found VAT volume is associated with anti-TNF treatment response in a nondose dependent manner, and VFI may inform risk of surgery after anti-TNF initiation. If confirmed by prospective studies, VAT volumetrics are potentially useful biomarkers to inform IBD treatment decisions.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View Full Text ↗

Amount of Belly Fat Linked to Treatment Success and Surgery Risk in IBD Patients Starting Anti-TNF Therapy

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief