THE EFFECTS OF DEXAMETHASONE AND STARVATION ON BODY COMPOSITION AND REGIONAL ADIPOSE TISSUE CELLULARITY IN THE RAT

Abstract
In order to examine regional effects of corticosteroids on the depot fat distribution a dose of dexamethasone that produced changes in fat cell weight (40 mug per kg per day) was administered to rats. Starved rats were included for comparison. Starvation caused a decrease in depot fat and fat cell weight proportional to the characteristic fat cell weight of that region. In comparison with the changes found in the depots of pair-fed rats the effects of dexamethasone in this dose were largely the same. The epididymal adipocytes behaved differently and were emptied more slowly than their weight indicated.