[Morphology of adipose tissue. Study in 102 obese subjects in reference to some clinical and biological criteria (author's transl)]

In spite of the methodological reserves that the measure of adipocyte volume and the calculation of the number of adipocytes evoke, it appeared interesting to us to study these parameters in a group of 102 obese subjects in reference to some clinical and biological criteria. The following conclusions come out of this study. The greater the obesity, the greater the adipocyte volume. There is a positive correlation between the importance of obesity and cellularity of the adipose tissue. However, this correlation is no longer found for the most obese patients, in whom adipocyte hypertrophy intervenes but no longer the multiplication of the fat cells. The onset of obesity at adolescence pairs with a number of adipocytes higher than in the other chronological forms: obesity appearing at adolescence would be thus more frequently hyperplastic. This characteristic is not discovered in the cases of obesity appearing in infancy. No relation was found between the existence of impaired glucose tolerance and mean adipocyte diameter and/or the number of adipocytes. It has been the same for the cases of hyperlipidemia.