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The cellular growth of adipose tissue from Dorset Horn x Merino wethers was characterized by both hypertrophy and hyperplasia of adipose cells until the sheep were c. 11 months old, after which hypertrophy of existing adipose cells was solely responsible for increases in adipose tissue mass. Omental adipose tissue contained larger adipose cells than either the perirenal or subcutaneous sites. The weight of fat which had been deposited in the boneless carcass meat and the internal adipose tissue depots were linearly and positively correlated with the volume of the adipose cells. Decreases in the mass of adipose tissue, which accompanied nutritional restriction, were due to decreased adipose cell size, since no change was observed in the number of adipose cells per carcass after loss in weight. The cellularity characteristics of rehabilitated sheep were similar to those of sheep which had undergone continuous growth.
Hood et al. (1979) studied this question.