Research

Hormonal

Nonalcoholic fatty pancreas disease (NAFPD) is strongly associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome, serving as an early marker for ectopic fat deposition and increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and acute pancreatitis.

If you have obesity or metabolic syndrome, ask your doctor about pancreatic fat if you undergo abdominal imaging (CT/MRI). It is a strong indicator of your overall metabolic health and risk for diabetes and pancreatitis. Managing weight and insulin resistance is the primary way to reduce pancreatic fat.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Increasing evidence support the role of pancreatic fat in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, MetS, atherosclerosis, severe acute pancreatitis and even pancreatic cancer. Evidence exists that fatty pancreas could be used as the initial indicator of 'ectopic fat deposition', which is a key element of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and/or MetS.
Roberto Catanzaro et al. · World Journal of Gastroenterology · 2016

Why this rating

The paper is a review summarizing observational studies, animal models, and some human imaging data; causality in humans is not definitively proven.

Source

Exploring the metabolic syndrome: Nonalcoholic fatty pancreas disease

Roberto Catanzaro et al. · World Journal of Gastroenterology · 2016

DOI 10.3748/wjg.v22.i34.7660

narrative_reviewCited 186×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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