Androgens have been postulated to be important modulators of adipose tissue metabolism and fat cell function. In the present study, we investigated the response of male and female mice retroperitoneal adipose tissue to the non-aromatizable androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Adipose tissue samples were obtained in gonadectomized (GDX) animals treated with vehicle (control group), or injected with 0.1mg DHT 1, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24h prior to necropsy. Fourteen animals were pooled at each time point (total 196 animals). Transcripts which were significantly modulated were considered as androgen-responsive genes. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR was used to confirm results from the microarry analysis in a subset of 46 probesets in male mice and 98 probesets in female mice. Considering peak time versus control, 74.0% and 63.3% of the modulated genes were confirmed by PCR in males and females, respectively. Four genes were significantly stimulated in a similar manner by DHT in both sexes, namely metallothionein 1 (Mt1), growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible 45 gamma (Gadd45g), cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1A (Cdkn1a), and fk506-binding protein 5 (Fkbp5). All these genes appear to be involved in the regulation of adipocyte differentiation/proliferation and adipogenesis. In conclusion, this study which evaluated the acute transcriptome response of adipose tissue to DHT in male and female mice suggests that DHT consistently modulates genes involved in the regulation of adipogenesis in retroperitoneal adipose tissue of both male and female animals.