ABSTRACT
T he adipose organ (Fig. 2.1) of mammals is composed of two different tissues: white and brown adipose tissues.1’3 In mammals these tissues are organized in distinct depots or are diffuse around or within other organs. The depots are subcutaneous (anterior and posterior in rats and mice) or visceral (medias
tinal, mesenteric, omental, perirenal, perigonadal and retroperitoneal). Adipocytes also “infiltrate” many organs: skin, synovia, parathyroid, parotid, lymph nodes,
bone marrow, pancreas, thymus. All the subcutaneous and visceral depots contain both tissues (white and brown) and the
relative amount of the two types of adipose tissue depends on age, strain and environmental conditions to which the animal is exposed.
