Fat storage and adipocyte patterns in camel a tool for management of reproduction

The ability of camels to cope with food shortage is the result of a long evolutionary process in natural conditions where food availability seasonally fluctuates. In and conditions, all the adaptive mechanisms and especially body fat mobilization strategies are of considerable importance in determining reproductive performance. In the camel, the hump is the most important fat storage place accessible to external observation. The fat around kidney is the most important internal fat storage. Adipose tissue consists of adipocytes with different sizes according to the quantity of fat globules stored in the cell. The pattern of adipocyts according to the different sizes is an important element to assess the fat storage status. The total number of adipocytes was assessed in the different patterns (n=46). Four hump patterns and three fat kidney patterns were evaluated. A significant effect of the sex and age was noted. The size of the hump was not dependant of the adipocyte patterns- The fattening potential in camel is not linked to the size of the hump. The relationships between adipocyte patterns, number of adipocytes and metabolic profiles are not clear. (Résumé d'auteur