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ABSTRACT
Adipocyte sizes from adipose tissue of mature animals form a bimodal distribution, thus reporting mean cell size is misleading. The objectives of this study were to develop a robust method for testing bimodality of porcine adipocytes, describe the size distribution with an informative metric, and statistically test hypertrophy and appearance of new small adipocytes, possibly resulting from hyperplasia or lipid filling of previously divided fibroblastic cells. Ninety-three percent of adipose samples measured were bimodal (P < 0.0001); therefore, we describe and propose a method of testing hyperplasia or lipid filling of previously divided fibroblastic cells based upon the probability of an adipocyte falling into 2 chosen competing “bins” as adiposity increases. We also conclude that increased adiposity is correlated positively with an adipocyte being found in the minor mode (r = 0.46) and correlated negatively with an adipocyte being found in the major mode (r = −0.22), providing evidence of either hyperplasia or lipid filling of previously divided fibroblastic cells. We additionally conclude that as adiposity increases, the mode of the major distribution of cells occurs at a larger diameter of adipocyte, indicating hypertrophy.
Abbreviations
| BF | = | Backfat thickness in centimeters |
| BrdU | = | Bromodeoxyuridine |
| DDGS | = | Dried distillers grains with solubles |
| DM | = | Dry matter |
| FFL | = | Percentage fat free lean tissue |
| NaCl | = | Sodium chloride |
| PCNA | = | Proliferating cell nuclear antigen |
| SEM | = | Standard error of the mean |
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to the Iowa State University Swine Research Farm staff for animal care, and Hormel Foods (Austin, MN) for their assistance in data collection.
Funding
The research herein was supported by the National Pork Board, Des Moines, IA.