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KMID : 0378019640070040081
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New Medical Journal
1964 Volume.7 No. 4 p.81 ~ p.87
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Anatomical Studies on the Brown Adipose Tissue of Rodents
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Abstract
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In some animal species, a special type of the fat tissue is distinguishable by its brown color and glandlike appearance, from the common white fat.
Brown adipose tissue is most extensively developed in animals which hibernate, and, was formerly regarded as an endocrine gland functionally related to hibernation. ´
For this reason it is often called ´ the hibernation gland. However, fatty tissue having the same gross structure is found in a number of non-hibernating mammals, particularly in rodents.
As yet, the physiological significances of brown fat is obscure. It is the purpose here to study the detailed regional distribution and relation of various brown fat lobules in non-hibernating rodents.
The study is summarized as follows:
1. Fifty-two well-fed and healthy non-hibernating rodents(10 white rats, 12 common house rats, 15 mice, 10 guinea pigs and 5 rabbits) were used.
2. The typical brown fat is, light red-brown and has lobular gland-like appearance, and a thin fibrous capsule marks its limit distinctly from the surrounding structures.
3. The location of brown fat is quite characteristic, gland-like masses are found in the interscapular, axillar, cervical, thoracic, abdominal and inguinal regions. From these positions there are extensions into the intermuscular spaces where some small and more or less detached masses are distributed.
4. The interscapular brown fat is in the form of well marked paired lobes situated between the depressions of the two scapulae. This is the largest lobe in rodents. Less frequently, isolated lobes were found in the inguinal region.
5. The frequency of occurrence of brown fat tissue, varied in the different regions of the 52 animals; 52 in interscapular, 49 in axillar, 50 in cervical, 43 in thoracic, 45 in abdomial, 38 in inguinal and 3 in tailroot regions. One may assume from these results that it is almost always present in interscapular, axillar, cervical, thoracic and abdominal regions, and, frequently absent in the inguinal region when it is present in all the other places.
6. I took an interest in the presence of brown fat in the subcutaneous tissue of the tail root in three white rats, which has not been described in the literatures.
7. 1 found no seasonal changes in the brown fat of non-hibernating white rats.
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