Abstract
Differences in glucose metabolism between men and women have previously been reported. Our purpose was to determine if there is a gender difference in fasting hepatic glucose uptake (MRglu). Fifty‐five patients (44 men, 11 women) referred for routine PET/CT using the glucose tracer 2‐deoxy‐2‐[F‐18]fluoro‐D‐glucose (FDG), mainly for cancer, had dynamic imaging for 30 min immediately following injection. Hepatic FDG clearance (mL/min/100 mL) was measured as gradient divided by intercept from Patlak–Rutland graphical analysis using a volume of interest over the abdominal aorta to record input function. Hepatic MRglu was obtained by multiplication of clearance by blood glucose concentration. Hepatic steatosis was diagnosed as CT density ≤40 HU. Mean (standard deviation) hepatic MRglu in 44 men was 2.30 (1.14) μmol/min/100 mL, significantly higher than in 11 women in whom it was 1.07 (1.35) μmol/min/100 mL (P = 0.003). CT density was 52 (12) HU in women compared with 45 (9) HU in men (P = 0.04), but there was no significant difference in blood glucose, BMI, or prevalence of recent chemotherapy (within 6 months preceding PET/CT). When patients were subdivided into those without hepatic steatosis (31 men/9 women), those without evidence of FDG‐avid malignancy on PET/CT (15/6), and those without either (11/5), gender differences in hepatic MRglu remained highly significant, but there were no significant differences in CT density, blood glucose, BMI, or recent chemotherapy history. Despite this being a population of clinically referred patients, the results strongly suggest that fasting hepatic MRglu is higher in men than in women.
Highlights
There are differences between men and women with respect to glucose metabolism (Basu et al 2006; Horton et al 2006; Blaak 2008; Magkos et al 2010; Varlamov et al 2015)
All patients attending our positron emission tomography (PET)/CT unit are asked for permission to use any of their imaging data for research purposes and all patients consented
There were no significant differences in blood glucose, body mass index (BMI), or recent chemotherapy history in any of the subgroups
Summary
There are differences between men and women with respect to glucose metabolism (Basu et al 2006; Horton et al 2006; Blaak 2008; Magkos et al 2010; Varlamov et al 2015). Compared with men, women are less glucose tolerant (Blaak 2008), have a lower hepatic extraction fraction of insulin (Basu et al 2006), and produce less glucose in response to exercise (Horton et al 2006). Data on gender differences in fasting hepatic glucose uptake (MRglu) are more difficult to find.
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