Regulation of visceral and epicardial adipose tissue for preventing cardiovascular injuries associated to obesity and diabetes

Table 1 Differences and similarities between the various adipose tissue depots


Body location	Gluteofemoral, subcutaneous and VAT	Inguinal and neck	Suprarenal, paravertebral and supraclavicular
Morphology	Big size and with a single LD	Intermediate size and with multiple LD	Variable size, vascularized and with multiple small LD
Mitochondria	+	++	+++
Function	Energy storage	Adaptive thermogenesis (UCP-1)	Non-shivering thermogenesis and energy dissipation
Obesogenity and diabetogenity	Positive	Negative	Negative

Body fat is stored as WAT, bAT or BAT. These depots can be distinguished by their location, size, mitochondria content, and function, playing diverse roles in obesity and T2D. Importantly, WAT could be browned to bAT and BAT by several approaches. LD stands for lipid droplet(s)

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