Adipose Tissue

There are two types of adipose tissue: unilocular (white) and multilocular  (brown) adipose tissue. Adipose tissue arises from the pluripotent mesenchymal cells and later from cells of the reticular connective tissue, which can produce grape like fatty tissue lobes also. The reticulum cells store fat droplets that will finally coalesce to one large drop. In the process, the cells b ecome rounder. This of ten creates remarkably large, about 100 μm wide, vacuole cells. Their nuclei and cytoplasm are squeezed to the cell periphery  (signet-ring form). In the usual histological routine preparations (paraffin sections), alcohol and xylene have dissolved the fat and removed it from the tissue. This creates empty spaces without stain, which are usually defined as fat vacuoles. In this figure, numerous unilocular fat cells ( adipocytes, lipocytes ) 1 pervade the interstitial space of the connective tissue of the striated musculature 2 ; at the top left is a section through an artery 3.  Unilocular adipose tissue is richly vascularized and contains nerves. Unilocular fat cells (adipocytes, lipocytes); fatty tissue lob e in the interstitial connective tissue of the musculature 2 .

1 Adipocytes

2 Striated muscle fibers

 3 Artery

Stain: hemalum-eosin; magnification: × 300

References

Kuehnel, W.(2003). Color Atlas of Cytology, Histology, and Microscopic Anatomy. 4^th edition . Institute of Anatomy Universitätzu Luebeck Luebeck, Germany . Thieme Stuttgart · New York .