Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Assessing Cerebral Autoregulation via Oscillatory Lower Body Negative Pressure and Projection Pursuit Regression
Published on: December 10, 2014
Collateral fattening in body composition autoregulation: its determinants and significance for obesity predisposition
Abdul G Dulloo1, Jennifer L Miles-Chan2, Yves Schutz2
1Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular System, Faculty of Science and Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland. abdul.dulloo@unifr.ch.
Abstract:
Collateral fattening refers to the process whereby excess fat is deposited as a result of the body's attempt to counter a deficit in lean mass through overeating. Its demonstration and significance to weight regulation and obesity can be traced to work on energy budget strategies in growing mammals and birds, and to men recovering from experimental starvation. The cardinal features of collateral fattening rests upon (i) the existence of a feedback system between lean tissue and appetite control, with lean tissue deficit driving hyperphagia, and (ii) upon the occurrence of a temporal desynchronization in the recovery of body composition, with complete recovery of fat mass preceeding that of lean mass. Under these conditions, persistent hyperphagia driven by the need to complete the recovery of lean tissue will result in the excess fat deposition (hence collateral fattening) and fat overshooting. After reviewing the main lines of evidence for the phenomenon of collateral fattening in body composition autoregulation, this article discusses the causes and determinants of the desynchronization in fat and lean tissue recovery leading to collateral fattening and fat overshooting, and points to their significance in the mechanisms by which dieting, developmental programming and sedentariness predispose to obesity.
Related Concept Videos
Composite Bodies
Composite bodies have widespread applications in mechanical engineering, from automobiles to aircraft to rockets. For example, an automobile wheel comprises...
Composition of Body Fluids
Autoregulation of Blood Flow
Chemical Signaling in Autoregulation
Chemical signaling operates at the precapillary sphincter level, inciting either contraction or relaxation....
Obesity
Statistical Significance
Significance of Center of Mass

