REVIEW article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Pathology
Cellular remodeling of lipedema affected subcutaneous adipose tissue
1. German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE), Potsdam, Germany
2. Deutsches Zentrum fur Diabetesforschung eV, Neuherberg, Germany
3. Universitat Potsdam Institut fur Ernahrungswissenschaft, Nuthetal, Germany
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Abstract
A progressive disease, lipedema is characterized by bilaterally symmetrical and disproportional accumulation of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in the extremities, leading to severe pain, inflammation, and mobility issues. Lipedema predominantly affects women in all stages of life and treatment options are currently limited as patients' conditions can only be improved to a limited extent by diet or exercise. The pathogenesis of lipedema remains poorly understood and a reliable diagnostic marker is currently missing. Disease progression is marked by stage-dependent morphological adipose tissue changes, such as adipocyte hypertrophy and stage-dependent fibrosis, accompanied by an elevated proportion of anti-inflammatory macrophages. The molecular mechanisms regulating these compositional and structural changes in adipose tissue, and to what extent this altered response is cause or consequence of the disease, remain unclear. Therefore, the analysis of disease-related changes, with a focus on the cellular dynamics and tissue composition changes may help to distinguish lipedema more reliably from adiposity-related comorbidities.
Summary
Keywords
Adipocytes, adipogenic stem and progenitor cells, Inflammation, Lipedema, surface marker proteins
Received
28 May 2026
Accepted
27 July 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Gohlke, Garcia-Carrizo, Upmeyer and Schulz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Sabrina Gohlke
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