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Preweaning Nutrition and Fat Development in Baboons¹

Douglas S. Lewis^*, Helen A. Bertrand, Edward J. Masoro, Henry C. McGill, Jr.^*,,, Kenneth D. Carey^* and C. Alex McMahan

^* Department of Cardiopulmonary Disease, Southwest Foundation for Research and Education, P.O. Box 28147, San Antonin, TX 78284 Department of Physiology Department of Pathology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX 78284

Using the baboon as a model, we tested the hypothesis that preweaning food intake influences the number of adipocytes at weaning. Two groups of 12 newborn baboons each were fed either a concentrated or a diluted Similac formula from birth to 18 weeks of age. Baboons fed the concentrated Similac were 38% heavier (P < 0.01) and had 87% more fat mass (P < 0.01) than the baboons fed diluted Similac. The mean adipocyte volume and adipocyte number were measured directly in 10 individual fat depots, and the total number of adipocytes were estimated for each baboon. The difference in fat mass was due to differences (P < 0.01) in mean adipocyte volume, which was 0.22 nl in overfed baboons and 0.09 nl in underfed baboons. There was no significant diet effect on the estimated total number of fat cells; nor on 8 of 10 depots in which adipocyte number was directly measured. These results indicate that, in baboons, preweaning caloric intake has little or no influence on the number of fat cells at the age of weaning.

KEY WORDS: • baboon • caloric intake • adipocyte number • adipocyte volume • obesity

¹ Supported by Grant HL-19362 from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Manuscript received 7 March 1983.