5-2 Adipose tissue

UNILOCULAR ADIPOSE TISSUE- 1

The unilocular adipose tissue is also commonly called white fat or yellow fat. Macroscopically, it is seen as a whitish or yellowish tissue, depending somewhat on the diet, because several lipids (e.g., vitamin A) are soluble in fat.
The unilocular adipose tissue is present throughout almost the entire body and is an important reservoir of energy. It also secretes several molecules considered as hormones that act elsewhere in the body.
This tissue is concentrated in certain regions of the body acting a a cushion (in the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, buttocks), in the abdominal cavity (especially in the omentum and around organs of this cavity), in the deep (subcutaneous layer) layer of the skin, and in the posterior region of the eyeballs.
It fulfils also an important function by filling spaces between organs. There are sexual differences in its distribution in the body.

The cytoplasm of the unilocular adipose cell contains one large lipid drop. It occupies most of the cell volume and displaces the nucleus and the cytoplasm toward the cell periphery where the form a narrow rim surrounding the lipid drop.
As the lipids are usually removed during routine histological techniques, the lipid drop is observed as an empty space where the fat was accumulated.
Due to the weak consistency of the fat, observe in the image how the shape of each adipocyte adapts to that of their neighbors.