The development of adipocytes located around hair follicles in the fetal pig.

Abstract

The relationship between hair follicle development and adipocyte formation in the pig hypodermis was studied. Dorsal subcutaneous tissue samples taken from fetal pigs at 45, 65, 85 and 112 of gestation were prepared for histological and histochemical analysis. The development of hair follicle adipose lobules in the pig is associated temporally and spatially with hair follicle and sweat gland growth and development. The growing hair follicle and sweat glands may physically interact with dermal connective tissue cells resulting in a population of undifferentiated cells. Adipocytes and a wide variety of cell types may be derived from this population of undifferentiated cells. The amount of space free of adipocytes in adipose lobules and shape and size of the adipose lobules are also associated with sweat gland and hair follicle growth. The results of this study demonstrate that adipose tissue cellularity may be partially controlled by the growth of the anatomically related tissue.