In clinical studies, the visceral fat obesity has been emphasized because of its correlation with the metabolic syndrome. But the subcutaneous adipose tissue also would correlate with the risk factor of metabolic syndrome. Especially deep tissue, which is a subdivision of the subcutaneous adipose tissue would be more related. This study is to investigate the relationship between subcutaneous adipose tissue and various diseases. Methods We searched for papers which had subcutaneous adipose tissue, deep subcutaneous adipose tissue and obesity for subjects in the Pubmed site. Results 24 papers were found. Subcutaneous adipose tissue, deep subcutaneous adipose tissue especially, was related with the insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, sex hormones and other diseases. Conclusions Subcutaneous adipose tissue is a risk factor of insulin resistance but not lipoprotein. But deep subcutaneous adipose tissue was related with lipoprotein. So deep tissue, which is a subdivision of the subcutaneous adipose tissue is a more important risk factor of the metabolic syndrome.