Disputation

Cand.med. Marit Elizabeth von Düring at Institute of Clinical Medicine will be defending the thesis “Associations between visceral fat, post transplant diabetes and arterial stiffness in kidney transplant recipients” for the degree of PhD (Philosophiae Doctor). Principal supervisor was Professor Trond Geir Jenssen.

Summary of research

Hyperglycemia and arterial stiffness are known risk factors for adverse outcomes after kidney transplantation.

In this thesis associations between visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and these risk factors were assessed; VAT and hyperglycemia at 8 weeks and 1 year (paper I, II), and VAT and arterial stiffness at 8 weeks after transplantation (paper III). VAT content was measured with a software applied on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans, arterial stiffness as pulse wave velocity (PWV), hyperglycemia by oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT).

VAT was associated more closely to impaired glucose metabolism than body mass index (BMI), and VAT was found as a risk factor for increased arterial stiffness while BMI was not. VAT was more strongly associated with glucose indices at 1 year than 8 weeks, possibly related to that immunosuppressive medication, which are high early post-transplant, might overshadow the effect on glucose metabolism early after transplantation, while the importance of metabolic factors including VAT appears more clearly later.

The thesis pinpoints the role of VAT in post-transplant hyperglycemia and arterial stiffness, and encourages studies on lifestyle interventions.