**13. Adipose tissue expansion**

In response to an excessive caloric intake, the mechanisms by which adipose depots expand represent an important determinant of the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic dysfunction. This expansion is mediated by two ways: an enlargement of adipocyte size (hypertrophy) and/or an increase in adipocyte numbers (hyperplasia).

Adipocyte hypertrophy typically leads to lipid-laden, dysfunctional adipocytes that undergo cell death and contribute to adipose tissue inflammation, dysfunction, and associated pathologies; in contrast it has been classically accepted that hyperplasia allows a "healthy" expansion of the adipose tissue, since it is mediated by the formation of functional adipocytes from progenitor cells (adipogenesis).
