Fasting hepatic glucose uptake is higher in men than women

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 ( MR glu). 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 MR glu was obtained by multiplication of clearance by blood glucose concentration. Hepatic steatosis was diagnosed as CT density ≤40  HU . Mean (standard deviation) hepatic MR glu in 44 men was 2.30 (1.14) μ mol/min/100 mL, significantly higher than in 11 women in whom it was 1.07 (1.35) μ mol/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 MR glu 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 MR glu is higher in men than in women.