Lower total adipocyte number but no evidence for small adipocyte depletion in patients with type 2 diabetes.
OBJECTIVE
We hypothesized that, compared with obese subjects, patients with type 2 diabetes have a lower total adipocyte number with fewer small adipocytes.


METHODS
Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was obtained from lean and obese subjects with or without type 2 diabetes matched for BMI. Adipocyte size was measured by osmium fixation and sizing/counting in a Coulter counter. Adipocyte size and number subdistributions (small, medium, large, and very large) were determined.


RESULTS
Compared with obese subjects, type 2 diabetic patients had larger mean adipocyte size and 67% bigger very large adipocytes; the total adipocyte number was lower, but the fraction of small adipocytes was increased by 27%.


CONCLUSIONS
Total adipocyte cellularity is lower in type 2 diabetic subjects than in obese subjects. We found no evidence for depletion of small adipocytes in patients with type 2 diabetes. This suggests the presence of a defect in early maturation of adipocytes in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Pasarica
Magdalena
M
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.
Xie
Hui
H
Hymel
David
D
Bray
George
G
Greenway
Frank
F
Ravussin
Eric
E
Smith
Steven R
SR
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001706:Biopsy; D002452:Cell Count; D048429:Cell Size; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D012016:Reference Values