Fatty acid composition and metabolic activity of depot fat in experimental obesity

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Abstract
Epididymal fat of rats from hypothalamic obesity showed increased proportions of 16-, and decreased proportions of 18-carbon fatty acids. This change, together with an acceleration in fat accumulation, began promptly with lesion placement.After 10 days, fat accumulation continued at a high rate with little further alteration in composition. With extended free feeding, carcass fat of lesioned animals was increased, the degree correlating with the change in distribution of tissue fatty acids. During food restriction, lesioned animals lost weight more slowly than controls, but previously altered epididymal fat composition was not restored to normal and was correlated with the rate of weight loss. When in-cubated in vitro, epinephrine stimulated fat of obese animals released, per unit wet weight, only one-fourth the total free fatty acid released by tissue of controls, but the fatty acid distribution was similar in both cases.