The accumulation of fat in upper-body (abdominal) adipose tissue is associated with obesity-related cardiometabolic diseases, whereas lower-body (gluteal and femoral) fat may be protective. Studies suggest physiological and molecular differences between adipose depots and depot-specific cellular mechanisms of adipose expansion. We assessed in vivo cellular kinetics in subcutaneous adipose tissue from the abdominal (scABD) and femoral (scFEM) depots using an 8-week incorporation of deuterium (H-2) from (H2O)-H-2 into the DNA of adipocytes and preadipocytes in 25 women with overweight or obesity. DNA synthesis rates denote new cell formation of preadipocytes and adipocytes in each depot. Formation of adipocytes was positively correlated to that of preadipocytes in the scABD and scFEM depots and was related to percent body fat in each depot. Notably, preadipocytes and adipocytes had higher formation rates in the scFEM depot relative to the scABD. This method to assess in vivo adipogenesis will be valuable to evaluate adipocyte kinetics in individuals with varying body fat distributions and degrees of metabolic health and in response to a variety of interventions, such as diet, exercise, or pharmacological treatment.
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