Physiological role of epidermal growth factor on adipose tissue development in vivo

The ability of epidermal growth factor (EGF) to affect adipose tissue development in vivo was investigated. The subcutaneous administration of EGF to newborn NBR rats for 10 days resulted in decreased body weight and fat pad weight that occurred in a dose-dependent fashion. At a dose of 1 micrograms/g of body weight, injected EGF resulted in a 50% decrease of fat pad weight. Although kidney weight was also diminished, the weight of other organs such as liver and intestine remained unchanged or even slightly increased, suggesting that the effect of EGF on fat pad development was not due to a generalized inhibitory action of EGF on the development of the neonate rats. The number of adipocyte precursors in inguinal fat pads of EGF-treated animals was higher than in control animals (1.3-fold for 0.3 micrograms/g of body weight of EGF and 1.8-fold for 1.0 micrograms/g of body weight), whereas the number of mature adipocytes and the amount of triglyceride accumulated per fat pad were concomitantly lower. Adipocyte precursors isolated from EGF-treated animals displayed a reduced differentiation ability in culture and a higher sensitivity to the inhibitory effect of EGF than did cells isolated from control animals. These experiments demonstrate that EGF can retard adipose tissue development in vivo and suggest that EGF plays an important physiological role in the control of adipocyte differentiation.