MESENTERIC NEUTRAL FAT IN OBESE RATS
The relationship of increasing obesity to storage of neutral fat in the mesentery was investigated in 48 albino rats. Calculated as grams per 100 g nonlipid dry weight, levels of mesenteric neutral fat were positively correlated with levels of mesenteric free cholesterol, phospholipid, and water, the correlation coefficient for water being higher in male than in female rats. These results suggest that storage of neutral fat is an active physiologic function of mesentery. On the other hand, the relative amount of body neutral fat which is stored in the mesentery became less as the animals became more obese. This indicates that in obese rats, some tissue other than mesentery is storing neutral fat at a rate greater than occurs in the mesenteric fat depots.