Regional variation in adipose tissue metabolism of severely obese premenopausal women.

Lipolytic and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activities were studied in isolated human adipocytes obtained from two intraabdominal depots (round ligament and omental) and from the subcutaneous abdominal region of nine severely obese premenopausal women (with body mass indices ranging from 37 to 51 kg/m2), aged 36 +/- 3 yr, undergoing gastrointestinal surgery. Both fat cell weight and LPL activity were significantly greater in round ligament adipose cells than in subcutaneous abdominal or in omental adipocytes (P