The effect of maternal diabetes and fasting on fetal adipose tissue histochemistry in the pig.

The effects of maternal diabetes (induced d 78 of gestation) and food deprivation (last 20 d of gestation) on the histochemical disposition of fetal adipose tissue at 112 d of gestation were determined. In both cases, there was an increased number of fat cell clusters by comparison with the control. In the fetuses of diabetic pigs, there were striking effects on adipocyte size and the extent of lipid filling of presumptive adipose space. In these fetuses, the adipocytes were large and many were unilocular, whereas, those in the fetuses of control and fasted pigs were smaller. The adipose tissue space of the control was "empty" compared with that of fetuses of diabetic pigs. Adipocytes from fetuses of diabetic pigs contained intracellular glycogen deposits, which were not present in adipocytes of control and fasted progeny. Maternal fasting and diabetes increased the number of lipid-containing adipocytes in fetal adipose tissue. An additional effect of maternal diabetes was to increase fetal adipocyte size over that of fetuses of control and fasted pigs.