Biphasic diameter distribution of adipocytes from lean and obese rats

The present study was conducted to determine if adipocyte diameter distributions of lean and obese Zucker rats were skewed (biphasic) and to quantify the extent to which skewed diameter distributions affect the accuracy of estimating average cell size. Diameter distributions were significantly biphasic for both lean and obese rats. The biphasic nature of the distributions was due to the presence of a large proportion of adipocytes 20-40 microns in diameter (30-60% of cell population). The proportion of these small cells was greater in obese than lean rats. The extent to which average diameter calculated from diameter distribution data underestimated cell size was a function of the extent to which diameter distributions were skewed.