The effects of dexamethasone and starvation on body composition and regional adipose tissue cellularity in the rat.

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.