Size of adipose cells in infancy

Seventy-three samples of adipose tissue from 59 infants, aged from 25 weeks' gestation to 18 months of age, were obtained at necropsy, or at operations, or by needle biopsy. Adipose cell size was measured by microscopy. During fetal life the mean cell diameter increases from about 40 mum at 25 weeks' gestation to 50-80 mum at term. Adipose cells from the buttocks are larger than those from abdominal wall. After birth, adipose cell size continues to increase so that by 3 months the mean cell diameter is about 90 mum. Observations made on infants that had been born preterm showed that the growth of adipose cells proceeds at the same rate whether development in intrauterine or extrauterine.