title: Adipose tissue hyperplasia and hyperinsulinemia on Zucker obese female rats: a developmental study.
abstract: Obese female Zucker rats show persistent increases in fat cell number compared to lean female Zucker rats from 5 to 52 wk of age. The hyperplastic obesity of the Zucker rat is also accompanied by fat cell hypertrophy and elevated plasma immunoreactive insulin (IRI). Average adipocyte size reaches a peak value at 14 wk of age in the subcutaneous, retroperitoneal and parametrial depots of the female obese rat. Plasma IRI also shows a peak at 14 wk of age. In addition, at this age thymidine kinase activity, a measure of proliferative capacity in tissue, is elevated in obese compared to lean rats, and at 15 1/2 wk of age a bimodal distribution of adipocytes is present in obese rat adipose tissue. The data suggest that attainment of a critical adipocyte size accompanied by maximum levels of plasma IRI may act in concert to potentiate fat cell hyperplasia in Zucker obese rats.
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000254:growth & development; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006946:Hyperinsulinism / Q000150:complications; D006965:Hyperplasia; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin