The effects of several factors related to lipids on bovine adipocyte differentiation were investigated in primary culture. Adipocyte differentiation was assessed by development of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity and morphological observation. Addition of triglyceride mixture (Intralipid), caprylic acid and very low-, low- and high-density lipoproteins (VLDL, LDL and HDL) stimulated bovine preadipocyte differentiation in serum-free condition. Especially, VLDL strongly increased both cell protein contents and GPDH activity, suggesting that it stimulated both proliferation and differentiation of bovine preadipocytes. Under Intralipid-induced condition, differentiation of preadipocytes from subcutaneous adipose tissues was more evident than those from omental adipose tissues. However, such depot difference was not observed in medium supplemented with indomethacin, which is a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) γ agonist. This suggests that the differentiation capacity of bovine preadipocytes was different between depots and such difference is dependent on the ability to utilize lipids as endogenous PPARγ ligands. Therefore, lipid metabolites have the stimulatory effects on bovine adipocyte differentiation in vitro, and lipoproteins, especially VLDL, may play an important role in development of bovine adipose tissues in vivo.