Longitudinal Study on Cellularity of Adipose Tissuesin Mice with Goldthioglucose-Induced Obesity

Abstract

The changes in cellularity occurring during the development of obesity were investigated longitudinally in parametrial, perirenal and inguinal subcutaneous adipose tissues of mice with goldthioglucose induced obesity. Changes in the rate of increase in the three depots corresponded well withchanges of increase in body weight. However, an increase in fat cell number occurred earlier in theparametrial and perirenal depots than in the subcutaneous depot. In all three depots, the range of celldiameter increased with the development of obesity and bimodal distributions of fat cell size wereobserved when the fat cell number increased, possibly due to recruitment of newly observable fat cells. These results support the hypothesis of a “critical size” for adipocytes, in which there may be animportant interaction between fat cell size and fat cell number.