Cardiometabolic & kidneyCohort study

Mapping organ fat distribution and body composition: towards precision profiling of cardiometabolic disease risk

Eur Heart JPublished

  • Cohort study
  • unsupervised clustering
  • MRI-derived adiposity measures

Authors' conclusion

Distinct patterns of multi-organ fat accumulation were associated with differential body composition, cardiac remodelling, and cardiometabolic disease risk profiles.

Study context

Population
UK Biobank participants without overt cardiac disease6 phenotypic groups
Participants
24,935 participants
Exposure
Adiposity phenotypic groups by organ-dominant fat accumulation

Main finding

As reported in the abstract

Organ-dominant fat accumulation, body composition, cardiac remodelling and cardiometabolic disease risk, by adiposity phenotype
  • Each phenotype showed distinct organ-dominant fat accumulation and body composition pattern
  • Pancreatic fat dominant phenotype (visceral adiposity, sarcopenic features): cardiorenal-metabolic risk profile
  • Muscle fat dominant phenotype (subcutaneous adiposity, sarcopenic features): associated with increased HF risk
  • Pericardial fat dominant and liver fat dominant phenotypes: no association with cardiac disease risk, but distinctive cardiac remodelling patterns
  • Normal-weight individuals with mild multi-organ fat: elevated chronic ischaemic heart disease risk

Observational data: associations, not effects.

Original publication

Mapping organ fat distribution and body composition: towards precision profiling of cardiometabolic disease risk. Eur Heart J. Published 31 August 2026. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehag702

Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it