POSTNATAL GROWTH OF THE EPIDIDYMAL ADIPOSE TISSUE IN YELLOW OBESE MICE

Abstract

The postnatal growth of the epididymal adipose tissue was studied in yellow obese mice and their normal grey litter mates. The relative growth of this fat depot appeared to be exponential. When plotting the epididymal fat pad weights and the body weights in a double logarithmic co-ordinate system, the observations were grouped around the same straight line in the two types of mice. The appearance of new fat cells and expansion of already existing ones provides the morphological basis for this growth pattern. The enlargement of the individual fat cells was associated with adherence to a symmetrical size frequency distribution of the fat cell diameters.