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Updated: Aug 15, 2026

Localization, Identification, and Excision of Murine Adipose Depots
Published on: December 4, 2014
Adrenalectomy reduces adiposity by decreasing food efficiency, not direct effects on white adipose tissue
N K Edens1, A Moshirfar, G M Potter
1Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland-College Park, 20742, USA. neile.edens@rossnutrition.com
Objective:
This study was conducted to establish the effects of adrenalectomy (ADX) on adipose tissue metabolism in male Sprague-Dawley rats fed a standard chow diet.
Research Methods And Procedures:
The effects of adrenalectomy on adipose cell size, lipoprotein lipase activity, and basal and insulin-stimulated glucose conversion to lipid and lipolysis were measured.
Results:
ADX decreased body weight gain during the post-operative period in the absence of changes in food intake; feed efficiency was decreased significantly. ADX decreased adipocyte size by 30%. ADX increased adipocyte response to the effect of submaximal concentrations of insulin on lipid synthesis and lipolysis. ADX decreased maximally insulin-stimulated lipid synthesis, but this effect was accounted for by decreased adipocyte size. In contrast, ADX had no effect on maximally insulin-inhibited lipolysis. ADX did not affect heparin-releasable LPL. The small effect of ADX on residual extractable adipose tissue LPL activity was accounted for by decreased fat cell size.
Discussion:
ADX decreased adiposity in the absence of changes in food intake, lipoprotein lipase activity, and adipocyte lipid metabolism. The effect is best attributed to decreased feed efficiency.
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