Contribution of lipoprotein lipase activity to the differential growth of three adipose tissue depots in young broiler chickens

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Abstract
1. The growth of three distinct adipose tissue depots around the abdomen, neck and thigh was measured in a commercial strain of broiler, and related to the changes in activity of lipoprotein lipase within each depot. 2. At 10 d of age there was no significant difference between the weights of the depots. Thereafter the abdominal fat pad exhibited a much greater rate of growth than the other two depots so that by 55 d of age the abdominal fat pad was 4 times the size of the leg depot and 3.4 times the size of the neck depot. 3. Changes in total lipoprotein lipase activity for all three depots showed a similar pattern to the changes in their weight. 4. When [14C]‐VLDL was injected intravenously into birds at 15 and 57 d of age the percentage taken up into the abdominal fat pad was greater than that into the other two depots at both ages. At 57 d of age the abdominal fat pad had a 2.3‐fold greater uptake than at 15 d whereas the other two depots showed no significant differences at the two ages. 5. These results provide further evidence for a key role of lipoprotein lipase in regulating adipose tissue growth in broilers. They also demonstrate that although the abdominal fat pad has been used in a number of studies of adipose tissue metabolism it is not necessarily representative of other depots.