Growth hormone (GH) is essential for postnatal growth in animal, it regulates numerous cellular functions by direct effect on its receptor (GH-R) in many different tissues. In present experiment single tube semi-quantitative RT-PCR was applied to investigate the developmental patterns of GH-R, IGF-1 and IGF-I R mRNA expression in dorsal subcutaneous adipose tissue of Erhualian and Large White pigs, and 18S internal standards were used as control. Eight Erhualian pigs were sampled at birth, 3, 20, 30, 45, 90, 120, 180 days of age respectively, four Large White boars were sampled at 20, 30, 90, 120, 180 days of age respectively. The results showed that GH-R mRNA levels in adipose tissue were changed with age (P < 0.05). The expression of GH-R mRNA in Erhualian gilts was low at birth but reached a peak at 45 days of age, and kept constant thereafter. The expression of GH-R mRNA in Erhualian boars was high at birth and reached a peak at 45 day, then decreased remarkably. It had no differences between sexes in general. The expression of GH-R mRNA in Large White boars was lower than that in Erhualian boars (P < 0.01). The IGF-1 mRNA expression in adipose tissue was changed with age. The IGF-1 mRNA expression in Erhualian gilts was lower than that in Erhualian boars (P < 0.05), and the IGF-1 mRNA expression in Large White boars was lower than that in Erhualian boars (P < 0.01). The IGF-I R mRNA expression in adipose tissue was changed with aging, but it had no differences between sexes and breeds in general. The results suggest that the GH-R, IGF-1 and IGF-I R mRNA expression in adipose tissue follow specific developmental pattern, and the different patterns of IGF-1 gene expression may contribute to different sediment of adipose tissue between two breeds.