Adipose tissue developmental growth constraints uncouple fat distribution from glucose metabolism in two mouse models of obesity

Subcutaneous obesity is associated with better metabolic health than visceral obesity. Here, we leverage two mouse models with differing quantities of visceral and subcutaneous fat to assess the role of fat distribution in glucose homeostasis. Interestingly, we found genetic ablation of inguinal subcutaneous fat does not exacerbate obesity-associated impairments in glucose metabolism. Consistent with this observation, mutant mice that preferentially accrue subcutaneous fat display a similar metabolic profile to controls with equal fat mass. Importantly, the increased subcutaneous adiposity in these mice occurs downstream of androgen receptor deficiency and is not driven by elevated adiponectin activity. Rather, it is caused by diminished adipocyte precursor seeding in nascent visceral fat and proportionally greater growth of subcutaneous fat. Thus, the pattern of obesogenic fat mass expansion can be determined early in development without impacting glucose metabolism. This suggests that different mechanisms underlying biased fat accumulation exert different effects on glucometabolic health.