Thus research into factors and molecular mechanisms influencing adipose cell proliferation and differentiation, and the conditions that favour these processes in a depot specific manner, represent a crucial area of research. Moderate caloric restriction in rats during the first half of gestation has been previously described to have lasting effect in the offspring, programming animals for greater food intake. We observed that in male animals this results in greater body SAR131675 weight gain and increased body weight in adulthood, even under normal fat diet conditions. However, female animals seem to be protected against fat accumulation in adult life. Another study performed by exposing pregnant rats to more severe caloric restriction also showed that the male offspring became hyperphagic and gained more weight than controls, while females did not overeat and did not became obese. Here, we also observed that moderate caloric restriction during the first half of gestation had no apparent effects on body weight and adiposity in animals at a juvenile age but did result in significant effects on body weight and adiposity in adult male animals, but not in females. In particular, at the age of 6 m, CR male animals exhibited 12.5% excess of body weight with respect to their controls, which was associated with increased fat accumulation, although with depot-specific differences. The iWAT depot showed 39.3% greater weight than their controls, and the excess of fat was associated with an increased number of adipocytes, as suggested by the increased total DNA content in the tissue, without showing differences in the adipocyte size. Thus, although adipocyte proliferation was not directly assessed, these results suggest the development of hyperplasia in the inguinal depot of adult male animals as a BAY 73-4506 consequence of caloric restriction during gestation. On the other hand, the significant increase in the adipocyte size of CR male animals in the retroperitoneal depot compared with controls, with no changes in total DNA content of the tissue, suggests the development of hypertrophy in this depot. The role of SNS in the adipose tissue on the regulation of lipid mobilization is well established. However, a more recent role of SNS innervation of WAT has been described in the control of adipose tissue growth and cellularity. Specifically, NE, the main sympathetic postganglionic neurotransmitter, inhibits the natural proliferation of adipocytes in culture. Furthermore, denervation of WAT triggers impressive hypercellularity in Siberian hamsters and in laboratory rats, providing in vivo support for the role of the SNS/NE in the control of fat cell number. Thus, the level of noradrenergic innervation in the adipose tissue could determine the degree of adipocyte proliferation and the posterior development of hyperplasia in the tissue.