In this case, however, the calorie-restricted animals did not stop producing leptin in their adipose tissue.
The material was then treated with a series of enzymes and centrifuged until cells, known as adipose-derived stromal cells, remained.
The rats who dined carte blanche, on the other hand, did reduce the amount of leptin that their adipose tissue produced.
The problem of lipid damage, they believe, is linked to hormones produced not by the pancreas, but by adipose tissue itself.
Leptin production, meanwhile, grows along with the mass of the adipose tissue.
How this happens has been the subject of a lot of hand waving, though the tendency of adipose tissue to produce chemicals that encourage inflammation is often mentioned.
Adiponectin, meanwhile, encourages the body's adipose tissue to absorb lipids.
As adipose tissue grows, however, its production of adiponectin falls.
In a healthy mouse (one with working leptin receptors) even a diet that is 60% fat does not cause a build-up of lipids anywhere except in the adipose tissue.
That's why we were intrigued to take a look at Nutrino, an iOS app that promises a "virtual nutritionist" service to help slice away the adipose from our stomach.
ENGADGET: Nutrino is a virtual nutritionist for iOS, we go hands-on
Dr Unger and Dr Scherer suggest that this failure of the leptin mechanism, particularly its role in oxidising lipids, is crucial to the development of metabolic syndrome, and that it is a pathology of adipose tissue that has become overloaded.
Fats that are taken into the body too quickly - for instance during a fast food binge - tend to be rapidly shunted to non-adipose tissues such as the liver, heart and pancreas, where they can do extensive damage to cells.
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