Objective: We hypothesized that, compared with obese subjects, patients with type 2 diabetes have a lower total adipocyte number with fewer small adipocytes.
Research design and methods: Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue was obtained from lean and obese subjects with or without type 2 diabetes matched for BMI. Adipocyte size was measured by osmium fixation and sizing/counting in a Coulter counter. Adipocyte size and number subdistributions (small, medium, large, and very large) were determined.
Results: Compared with obese subjects, type 2 diabetic patients had larger mean adipocyte size and 67% bigger very large adipocytes; the total adipocyte number was lower, but the fraction of small adipocytes was increased by 27%.
Conclusions: Total adipocyte cellularity is lower in type 2 diabetic subjects than in obese subjects. We found no evidence for depletion of small adipocytes in patients with type 2 diabetes. This suggests the presence of a defect in early maturation of adipocytes in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00377975 NCT00493701.