title: Changes in skeletal muscle and organ size after a weight-loss intervention in overweight and obese type 2 diabetic patients.
abstract: The effect of a weight-loss intervention on the masses of lean tissues and organs in humans is not well known.
  
  
  
  We studied the effects of a diet and exercise weight-loss intervention on skeletal muscle (SM) mass and selected organs over 2 y using MRI in overweight adults with type 2 diabetes.
  
  
  
  Participants were 53 women and 39 men [mean ± SD: age 58 ± 7 y; body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) 32 ± 3] enrolled in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial and randomly assigned to an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) or diabetes support and education (DSE) on whom 2 y of data were collected. MRI-derived measurements of SM, heart, liver, kidney, spleen, and pancreas were acquired.
  
  
  
  Adjusted for baseline weight, height, age, sex, and ethnicity, the ILI group weighed (mean ± SE) 6.6 ± 0.7 kg less after 1 y and 5.2 ± 0.7 kg less after 2 y, whereas the DSE group did not change significantly (-0.4 ± 0.6 and -1.0 ± 0.7 kg after 1 and 2 y, respectively; P-interaction < 0.001). Total SM decreased in both groups during year 1 (-1.4 ± 0.2 kg; P < 0.001) with appendicular SM regained during year 2. Liver and spleen masses decreased in the ILI group (-0.12 ± 0.02 and -0.006 ± 0.003 kg, respectively) but were unchanged in the DSE group (0.00 ± 0.02 and 0.004 ± 0.003 kg, respectively). Kidney mass decreased by 0.013 ± 0.003 kg (P < 0.001) over 2 y in both groups.
  
  
  
  Decreases in liver (in Caucasians but not African Americans) and spleen were detected after a 6.2-kg weight reduction compared with a control group. SM and kidney mass decreased in both groups. Appendicular SM was regained during the second year whereas trunk SM was not. No evidence of a disproportionate loss of high-metabolic rate organs (heart, liver, kidney, spleen) compared with SM was found.
authors.affiliation: New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center and dg108@columbia.edu.|Institute of Human Nutrition and Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Dympna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gallagher
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Nutrition Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.affiliation: New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center and.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thornton
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, St. Luke's Hospital, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boxt
authors.affiliation: New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center and.|Institute of Human Nutrition and Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pi-Sunyer
authors.affiliation: Division of Metabolism, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; and.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lipkin
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Tennessee, Martin, TN.
authors.forename: Ebenezer
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nyenwe
authors.affiliation: New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center and.
authors.forename: Isaiah
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janumala
authors.affiliation: New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center and.|Institute of Human Nutrition and Department of Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heshka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism; D008019:Life Style; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000378:metabolism; D009206:Myocardium / Q000378:metabolism; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D009929:Organ Size; D050177:Overweight; D010179:Pancreas / Q000378:metabolism; D013154:Spleen / Q000378:metabolism; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Look AHEAD trial; body composition; magnetic resonance imaging; organ mass; skeletal muscle; type 2 diabetes; weight loss