Principal Investigator:  Epameinondas Gousopoulos, MD, PhD

LF Funding History: LF Proof-Of-Concept Awards 14 and 27

Hypothesis: Our hypothesis is that distinct immune cells resident in lipedema tissue influence the adipose tissue metabolism thus contributing to localized aberrant adipose tissue growth.

Current LF Collaboration: Rene Haegerling, Charite, Berlin (2019); Michelle Foster, Colorado State University (2020)

Project: Understanding lipedema onset and progression

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 or lymphedema.

Our work over the last two years has revealed an aberrant adipose tissue architecture in lipedema, as well as a distinct biochemical niche without obvious alterations of the lymphatic vascular morphology. Importantly a specific immune cell composition has been identified in lipedema, distinct to the one observed in lymphedema. Our work is now focused on understanding the role of specific immune components in the onset and progression of the disease, with a particular focus on how these may influence adipocyte growth and metabolism.