Choosing an Adipose Tissue Depot for Sampling: Factors in Selection and Depot Specificity

Adipose tissues (ATs) were long considered as negligible and as simple filling tissues. The increase in knowledge concerning their role in energy balance and the increased occurrence of metabolic disorders, such as obesity and syndrome X, have focused the attention of the scientific community on these tissues. This evolution has been speeded by both the discovery of leptin and the development of transgenic and knockout techniques. The former emphasized the secretory function and the involvement of adipose mass in various general physiological functions, such as reproduction (1 –3 ). The latter made it possible to test hypotheses elaborated from in vitro findings in the organisms, but these approaches also revealed unexpected results and findings concerning the development of AT (4 –8 ). It is true that any changes in fat mass have a rapid effect on body weight (wt), which is quickly and easily identifiable. This chapter aims to give a general picture of the ATs presently available in mammals and to describe their sampling.