[Development of adipose tissue and dietary lipids: from basic science to medicine]

Professor Gérard Ailhaud was awarded the 2005 Institut Roche de l'Obésité Prize, for his studies on adipocyte biology and the differential role of dietary lipids in the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity. With his colleagues, he demonstrated that natural fatty acids play an hormonal role by favouring the differentiation of preadipocytes into adipocytes, showed the potent adipogenic role of arachidonic acid (C20:4, n-6) and depicted the signaling pathways involved in this process. More recently, his research has underscored the importance of the composition of dietary fats during the gestation/suckling period, i.e. an excess of the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids of the n-6 series, in the hypertrophic/hyperplasic development of adipose tissue which has been associated over the last decades with the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity. The main findings of his studies are summarised in this review.