Differences in growth in vitro of adipose cells from normal and obese patients

Abstract

OBESITY is a bodily state in which an excessive accumulation of fat occurs, but it is not known whether it is the lipid content per cell1 or the total number of adipose cells2 which increases. Bray3 found that adipose cells from obese patients were larger than those from normal patients, and concluded that the gain or loss of weight in adults occurs chiefly through changes in the size of existing fat cells. Fat cells in vivo, however, are greatly influenced by the nutritional state of the patients, and observations in such conditions do not indicate whether there are acquired and/or inborn differences in adipose cells from normal and obese patients. © 1971 Nature Publishing Group.