Magnetic resonance imaging quantifies causal body compartment effects on metabolic traits via immune phenotypes—a Mendelian randomisation study
Our study emphasised the correlation between MRI-derived body composition measures and metabolic diseases, particularly revealing VAT, subcutaneous adipose tissue, and liver proton density fat fraction as key causal drivers of metabolic diseases while uncovering the pivotal role of immune phenotypes in mediating these metabolic pathways. These findings support the integration of MRI-based body composition profiling into clinical screening for metabolic diseases of high-risk cohorts, and provide a novel theoretical foundation for immune-targeted therapies to combat metabolic dysregulation.
Authors
- Xinyu Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9380-3026)
- Chao Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6528-3257)
- Weihui Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9180-4765)
- Yun Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2325-409X)
- Sisi Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2696-9107)
- Di Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0779-3264)
- Lei Lei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1282-6091)
- Pu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6552-0643)
- Yinghui Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5764-3272)
- Liangping Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5832-548X)
Institutions
- University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Translational Medicine
- Published
- 2025-10-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-025-07241-4
- Primary Topic
- Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China