Regional adipose cellularity and reliability of adipose cell size determination.

Regional adipose cell size was assessed in 18 males ranging in age from 20 to 36 years. These measures were correlated to total body fat determined by hydrostatic weighing. Adipose samples were removed from the gluteal, abdominal, and subscapular regions using a needle aspiration technique. The tissue was incubated in collagenase to release individual cells that were immediately photographed under a microscope. To establish the reliability of adipose cell size assessment over time, fat biopsies were secured on 2 separate days. No significant difference was found for any region between day 1 and 2 adipose cell measures. Gluteal cell diameter (90.3 mu) was significantly larger than the abdominal (81.0 mu) and subscapular (78.6 mu) cell diameter (90.3 mu) was significantly larger than the abdominal (81.0 mu) and subscapular (78.6 mu) cell diameters. Total body fat correlated highest with gluteal cell size (r = 0.76) compared with the abdominal (r = 0.67) or subscapular (r = 0.70) regions. This study also examined the number of adipose cells required to subscapular (r = 0.70) regions. This study also examined the number of adipose cells required to obtain a reliable and representative mean value of adipose cell size. Using a sequential estimation analysis it was found that adipose cell diameters of the abdominal, gluteal, or subscapular regions can be reliably estimated with fewer than 100 cells.