Boulton T J, Dunlop M, Court J M
Pediatr Res. 1978 Sep;12(9):908-11. doi: 10.1203/00006450-197809000-00005.
Studies on the development of adipose tissue in infancy would seem essential to test the hypothesis that adult fat stores relate to the numbers of fat cells developed during early childhood. Thirty infants aged from 1-28 months and 13 fetuses of approximately 11-16 weeks of gestation obtained at therapeutic abortion and two preterm infants of 28 weeks of gestation were studied. The cells of both fetal and infant adipose tissue were separated from connective tissue and fixed by treatment with osmium tetroxide in buffered collidine using a method modified from Hirsch and Gallian (J. Lipid Res.,9:100(1968) for estimation of cell size and number. In fetal and early infancy there are two populations of cells in adipose tissue. Small cells found in tissue before birth and the first months of postnatal life do not contain fat. The larger cells, which are fat containing, represent maturing fat cells. They are cells which include fat cells recognized by previous workers but up to 24.6% were found to be less than 25 micron in diameter. Small cells in the early stages of fat accumulation may make an important contribution to the cell population of fat mass. It is apparent that increasing fat accumulation in the first 6-12 months of life, as demonstrated by increased skinfold thickness measurements, is associated with increasing fat cell size and that this association bears a linear relationship.
关于婴儿期脂肪组织发育的研究对于验证成年期脂肪储备与儿童早期发育的脂肪细胞数量相关这一假说似乎至关重要。研究对象包括30名年龄在1至28个月的婴儿、13名在治疗性流产时获取的约11至16周妊娠的胎儿以及2名28周妊娠的早产儿。胎儿和婴儿脂肪组织的细胞通过改良自赫希和加利安（《脂质研究杂志》，9:100(1968)）的方法，从结缔组织中分离出来，并用四氧化锇在缓冲的可力丁中处理进行固定，以估计细胞大小和数量。在胎儿期和婴儿早期，脂肪组织中有两种细胞群。在出生前和出生后最初几个月的组织中发现的小细胞不含脂肪。较大的含脂肪细胞代表成熟的脂肪细胞。它们包括先前研究人员所识别的脂肪细胞，但发现直径小于25微米的细胞占比高达24.6%。脂肪积累早期的小细胞可能对脂肪组织的细胞群有重要贡献。显然，如皮褶厚度测量增加所示，生命最初6至12个月脂肪积累的增加与脂肪细胞大小的增加相关，且这种关联呈线性关系。
