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.