Adipose tissue mass is determined by both the number and volume of adipose cells. Adipose cell number reflects the balance of cell acquisition and cell loss, whereas adipose cell volume represents the balance of lipolysis and lipogenesis. It is well recognized that insulin resistance, NIDDM, and other metabolic disorders are associated more strongly with increased omental adiposity than with su...

Site differences in adipose tissue function may have implications for insulin-resistant conditions. In mature adipose tissue, subcutaneous adipocytes have higher leptin secretion, similar tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha secretion, and lower catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis as compared with omental adipocytes. In this study, lipolysis and leptin and TNF-alpha secretion were compared between ...

Obesity, especially central obesity, is a hereditable trait associated with a high risk for development of diabetes and metabolic disorders. Combined gene expression analysis of adipocyte- and preadipocyte-containing fractions from intraabdominal and subcutaneous adipose tissue of mice revealed coordinated depot-specific differences in expression of multiple genes involved in embryonic developm...

AIM The physiologic mechanisms underlying the relationship between obesity and insulin resistance are not fully understood. Impaired adipocyte differentiation and localized inflammation characterize adipose tissue from obese, insulin-resistant humans. The directionality of this relationship is not known, however. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether adipose tissue inflammatio...

Nitric oxide (NO) has been recognized as a potential mediator of inflammation-induced metabolic alterations, including insulin resistance. However, expression mechanisms and potential roles of endothelial and inducible NO synthases (eNOS and iNOS, respectively) in human adipocytes are poorly understood. In the present study, we aimed to analyze several aspects of NO-related gene expression and ...

OBJECTIVES (1) To examine depot-specific PGE2 and PGF2α release and mRNA expression of enzymes or receptors involved in PG synthesis or signaling in human adipose tissues; (2) to identify changes in expression of these transcripts through preadipocyte differentiation; and (3) to examine associations between adipose tissue mRNA expression of these transcripts and adiposity measurements. METHOD...

Adipose tissue synthesizes all components of the renin-angiotensin system. The renin receptor (RenR) is able, on renin binding, to increase its efficiency to generate angiotensin I from angiotensinogen. We demonstrate that RenR is specifically synthesized in the stromal portion of human adipose tissue in both isolated interadipocyte stromal cells and in stromal areas. RenR is expressed at the p...

Adipocyte hypertrophy and hyperplasia together with angiogenesis contribute to the growth of the fat mass. Because changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM) components are often associated with such cellular remodeling, we studied the adipocyte expression of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 2 and 9, two key enzymes involved in the modulation of ECM. The present study provides the first evid...

Adrenomedullin (AM) expressed by and secreted from a variety of cells plays pluripotent roles in an autocrine/paracrine fashion. The present study was undertaken to explore the expression of AM and its receptor genes in adipose tissues, their changes during the development of obesity, and the process of preadipocyte differentiation. Both mature adipocytes and stromal vascular cells constituting...