Principal Investigator: Epameinondas Gousopoulos, MD, PhD

Co-Principal Investigator: Gunther Felmerer, MD

Institution: Universitätsmedizin Göttingen

LF Funding History: 2017 Proof of Concept Award

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that lymphatic vasculature interaction with locally-released metabolic products results in functional lymphatic impairment, and contributes to lipedema pathophysiology.

Current LF Collaboration: Rene Haegerling, St George's University of London

Collaborative Opportunities: In the context of the clinical study, a patient-derived tissue library of lipedema and control samples will be generated, allowing for various collaborative opportunities.

Project: Unraveling Lipedema Pathophysiology

Lipedema is clinically characterized by the painful edema and symmetrical subcutaneous deposition of adipose tissue in the lower extremities, most commonly affecting women. It is a disease of still unknown etiology and is frequently misdiagnosed as obesity, lipohypertrophy/lipodystrophy, or lymphedema. Evidence suggests an important role of the lymphatic system in lipedema pathology, however in what context or extent remains elusive.

Our hypothesis is that the lymphatic vasculature interacts with locally-released metabolic products, resulting in its functional impairment. To examine this hypothesis, clinical samples from lipedema and control patients will be subjected to detailed histopathological and molecular characterization with the goal of identifying potential targets that drive lipedema pathophysiology.