Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-D deficiency had no significant effect on total body weight or on subcutaneous (SC) or gonadal (GON) adipose tissue mass of mice kept oil a standard fat (SFD) or a high fat diet (HFD) for 15 weeks. The composition of SC and GON adipose tissues of VEGF-D deficient mice in terms of size and density of adipocytes or blood vessels was also comparable to that of wild-type control mice. Staining of lymphatic vessels in adipose tissue sections did not reveal marked differences between both genotypes. The absence of in effect of VEGF-D deficiency Could not be explained by compensatory increases of VEGF-C expression in adipose tissues of the deficient mice. Thus, our data do not support an important role of VEGF-D in (lymph) angiogenesis or in adipose tissue development. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.