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adipose tissue
Sign in to saveAlso known as body fat, fat, adiposity
loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes
Adipose tissue is a type of connective tissue in your body made up primarily of fat cells called adipocytes. It serves as an important energy storage depot and also helps insulate and protect your organs.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
175,939 papers- Adipose Tissue Fibrosis in Obesity: Etiology and Challenges.ReviewAnnual review of physiology · 2022Marcelin G, Gautier EL, Clément KDOI: 10.1146/annurev-physiol-060721-092930
- The colors of adipose tissue.ReviewGaceta medica de Mexico · 2020Frigolet ME, Gutiérrez-Aguilar RDOI: 10.24875/GMM.M20000356
- Reassessing Human Adipose Tissue.ReviewThe New England journal of medicine · 2022Cypess AMDOI: 10.1056/NEJMra2032804
- Brown and beige adipose tissue: a novel therapeutic strategy for obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.ReviewAdipocyte · 2021Cheng L, Wang J, Dai H et al.DOI: 10.1080/21623945.2020.1870060
- Adipose tissue and androgens: the ins and outs.ReviewAdipocyte · 2025Jia Y, Lacombe M, Muller C et al.DOI: 10.1080/21623945.2025.2508885
- Adipose Tissue Dysfunction Determines Lipotoxicity and Triggers the Metabolic Syndrome: Current Challenges and Clinical Perspectives.ReviewAdvances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Carobbio S, Pellegrinelli V, Vidal-Puig ADOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-63657-8_8
- Deciphering adipose tissue heterogeneity.ReviewAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2018Lynes MD, Tseng YHDOI: 10.1111/nyas.13398
- Adipose tissue dysfunction disrupts metabolic homeostasis: mechanisms linking fat dysregulation to disease.ReviewFrontiers in endocrinology · 2025Bou Matar D, Zhra M, Nassar WK et al.DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1592683
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Encyclopedic overview
Adipose tissue (also known as body fat or simply fat) is a loose connective tissue composed mostly of adipocytes. It also contains the stromal vascular fraction of cells including preadipocytes, fibroblasts, vascular endothelial cells and a variety of immune cells such as adipose tissue macrophages. Its main role is to store energy in the form of lipids, although it also cushions and insulates the body.
Previously treated as being hormonally inert, in recent years adipose tissue has been recognized as a major endocrine organ, as it produces hormones such as leptin, estrogen, resistin, and cytokines (especially TNFα). In obesity, adipose tissue is implicated in the chronic release of pro-inflammatory markers known as adipokines, which are responsible for the development of metabolic syndrome—a constellation of diseases including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “adipose tissue” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.