Abstract: Insect fat bodies are widely distributed in the body of insects, and they are a dynamically loose tissue that includes peripheral fat bodies and visceral fat bodies. The structure and function of insect fat bodies are closely related, and their structure changes with the changes of different life stages, and their functions also change. However, the most basic function of insect fat bodies is to act as the core tissue of insect life metabolism to synthesize and store substances. In addition, fat bodies, which are the target organs of various hormones, have many important functions and are related to the innate immunity, longevity, growth and development of insects. Therefore, the study on insect fat body is very important for the analysis of the important life phenomena of insects. In recent years, a large number of studies have taken insect fat bodies as research models for human diseases and drug development, and applied them in many fields such as human immunology, pathogenesis of human diseases, and new drug research and development. Here, in order to systematically deepen the understanding of the structure and function of insect fat bodies, the morphological structure, formation and metamorphosis, biological function, and their application and prospect in the study of human disease models were reviewed. Insect fat bodies would have great application potential in the construction of major human disease models and the exploration of disease pathogenesis.

Key words: Insect, fat body, model insect, human disease, obesity, cancer