Descrizione del progetto
RMI come strumento per la biopsia virtuale nell’obesità
L’adiposità viscerale, o addominale, e l’ipertrofia adipocitaria sono fenotipi strettamente connessi alla disfunzione metabolica nelle persone obese. L’adiposità viscerale può essere misurata in modo non invasivo avvalendosi della risonanza magnetica per immagini (RMI). Tuttavia, attualmente, la dimensione degli adipociti è misurabile solo utilizzando procedure di biopsia altamente invasive, che provocano grave disagio al paziente, costituiscono un rischio di complicazioni e che quindi vengono eseguite raramente. Il progetto FatVirtualBiopsy, finanziato dall’UE, tradurrà gli approcci di misurazione della dimensione delle goccioline lipidiche, sviluppati in precedenza dal gruppo del progetto, in un metodo efficace e riproducibile per la misurazione non invasiva della dimensione degli adipociti umani in vivo. Il progetto produrrà una serie di strumenti di imaging non invasivi che possono essere integrati nella pratica clinica per prevenire il diabete e la malattia cardiovascolare indotti dall’obesità.
Obiettivo
In 2015, four million people worldwide died because of the aftermaths of obesity (7% of total deaths), and in 2030, half of humankind is expected to be overweight. Lifestyle interventions in subjects with obesity can prevent the development of obesity-induced metabolic dysfunction but need personalization in order to become effective for diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention. Visceral adiposity and adipocyte hypertrophy are phenotypes strongly linked to metabolic dysfunction in subjects with obesity. Visceral adiposity can be non-invasively measured using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Adipocyte size measurements are however nowadays only feasible using highly invasive biopsy procedures that cause severe patient discomfort, hold a risk for complications and are therefore rarely performed in the personalization of lifestyle interventions. The ongoing ProFatMRI research program (ERC-StG 677661) focuses on the development of an MRI platform to non-invasively assess fat microstructure. In the present proof of concept (PoC) project, we will translate the lipid droplet size measurement approaches successfully developed within ProFatMRI into an effective and reproducible toolkit (FatVirtualBiopsy) for non-invasive in vivo human adipocyte size measurement. The present PoC project encompasses the evaluation and the technical adjustment of the adipocyte size measurement in the real-life scenario involving a lifestyle intervention in subjects with obesity, the development of a prototype and the adoption of an intellectual property strategy. The PoC project will result in a non-invasive imaging toolkit that can be integrated into clinical prevention, targeting a wide range of medical specialists involved in obesity treatment. FatVirtualBiopsy will therefore contribute to transform the personalization of lifestyle interventions and drastically improve their effectiveness in subjects with obesity towards diabetes and cardiovascular disease prevention.
Campo scientifico
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineendocrinologydiabetes
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinecardiologycardiovascular diseases
- engineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imagingmagnetic resonance imaging
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionobesity
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotIstituzione ospitante
81675 Muenchen
Germania