Visceral adipose tissue (VAT)
What a GLP-1 receptor agonist actually does: which receptors it reaches, how it slows gastric emptying, and the satiety pathway it runs through.
What is Visceral adipose tissue (VAT)?
Fat packed deep in the abdomen around the liver, pancreas and intestines, as opposed to the subcutaneous fat under the skin.
It is the metabolically dangerous kind. DEXA substudies of STEP-1 and SURMOUNT-1 measured it falling on these drugs, which is part of why cardiometabolic risk improves.
Related reading: SURMOUNT-1: Tirzepatide's 20.9% and What Sits Behind It
GLP Watchdog writes these definitions from FDA labels and peer-reviewed PubMed literature.
Where Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) comes up on this site
Connected terms
Other terms under Mechanism
- GLP-1 receptor
- GIP receptor
- Dual agonist
- Gastric emptying
- Food noise
- Triple agonist
- Amylin
- GLP-1 tachyphylaxis
- Non-peptide GLP-1 agonist
- A1C (glycated hemoglobin)
- MASH / MASLD
- TBWL (Total Body Weight Loss)
- C-peptide
- eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate)
- AHI (apnea-hypopnea index)
- SNAC (oral semaglutide absorption enhancer)
Where the evidence lives
- The full GLP-1 glossary (150 terms, 8 categories)
- Research articles — written from primary sources
- Tools and calculators
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