Brown Adipose Tissue

Plurilocular or multilocular adipose tissue from the brown adipose tissue (BAT) in the vicinity of the thoracic aorta (rat).  Instead of one large fat vacuole, plurilocular adipocytes 1 contain many small fat droplets, which are envelope d by an elementary membrane. This gives the cell body a foamy appearance. The intracellular fat droplets are of various sizes, and they stain only slightly. Note the blood vessels 2 in the brown adipose tissue.  In the adult, this form of fatty tissue is restricted to only a few regions of the body, such as armpits, neck , mediastinum, the skin on the back , etc. The multilocular adipose tissue contains cytochrome C , and therefore displays a brownish-yellow color (brown adipose tissue). It plays a large role in thermoregulation in hibernating animals (“hibernation gland” of rodents).  Adipocytes contain many mitochondria. There are many sympathetic nerve fibers between the adipocytes in connective tissue.

1 Multilocular adipocytes

2 Capillaries

Semi-thin section; stain: methylene blue-azure II; magnification: × 380

References

Kuehnel, W.(2003). Color Atlas of Cytology, Histology, and Microscopic Anatomy. 4^th edition . Institute of Anatomy Universitätzu Luebeck Luebeck, Germany . Thieme Stuttgart · New York .