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adipose tissue

Saturday 14 January 2006

fat tissue; Conrad Gessner, 1551.

WKP

Definition: Adipose tissue is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes.

In addition to adipocytes, adipose tissue contains the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular endothelial cells and a variety of immune cells such as adipose tissue macrophages.

Adipose tissue is derived from preadipocytes.

Its main role is to store energy in the form of lipids, although it also cushions and insulates the body.

Far from being hormonally inert, adipose tissue has, in recent years, been recognized as a major endocrine organ, as it produces hormones such as leptin, estrogen, resistin, and the cytokine TNFα.

The two types of adipose tissue are white adipose tissue (WAT), which stores energy, and brown adipose tissue (BAT), which generates body heat.

The formation of adipose tissue appears to be controlled in part by the adipose gene.

Images

- Adipose tissue

Types

- visceral fat depots
- subcutaneous fat depots

Components

- adipose lobules

  • adipocytes

- adipose interlobualr septa

Pathology

- anomalies of the adipose tissue
- adipose tissue tumors

  • adipocytic tumors / adipous tumors

References

- Sethi JK, Vidal-Puig A. Visfatin: the missing link between intra-abdominal obesity and diabetes? Trends Mol Med. 2005 Aug;11(8):344-7. PMID: 16005682

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