Human adipose lipid turnover

Arner, P. et al. Nature 478, 110–113 (2011).

Arner et al. describe an approach to study lipid turnover in human adipocytes. As a result of above-ground nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s and 1960s, atmospheric ¹⁴C levels greatly increased, but since a test ban treaty in 1963, ¹⁴C levels have exponentially decreased at a known rate. Comparing ¹⁴C incorporation into lipids with atmospheric ¹⁴C levels, Arner et al. determined that adipocyte lipid turnover is relatively slow, on the order of six times in 10 years.