Not all adipose is created equal
The anatomical location of adipose tissue appears to impart several
important characteristics, most likely due to the slightly different
role adipose will play in each different site. The simplest distinction
is that of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) which lies immediately
underneath the skin and visceral (VAT) which surrounds organs. In
addition to these two major categories, adipose tissue within the bone
marrow, around the heart (epicardial) and blood vessels and in/around
skeletal muscle have all been found to have distinct phenotypes in
humans and rodents. Very little is known about these tissue specific
depots in the horse and so this review will focus on what is known about
SAT and VAT.