Endothelial cell alterations in capillaries of adipose tissue from patients affected by lipedema
Michelini S., Greco S., Vaia N., Puleo V., Pellegrino P., Di Vincenzo A.
Prospective Study with a reported sample of 10, published in Obesity (Silver Spring) (2025) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.
Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.
- Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
- Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
- Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
- Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
- Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.
- Study type
- Prospective Study
- Journal
- Obesity (Silver Spring) (2025)
- Reported sample size
- 10
- Source database
- Europe PMC
- PMID
- 40077894
- PMCID
- PMC11937865
- DOI
- 10.1002/oby.24244
- Citations
- 11
Abstract (original English)
Objective This study aimed to evaluate adipose tissue of lipedema patients. Methods Gluteo-femoral (affected area) and interscapular (nonaffected area) adipose tissue from 10 lean patients affected by lipedema stage 1 to 2 was studied and compared with tissue from 10 patients with obesity and 12 lean patients. Results The main features were alterations of capillaries with wall thickening (p ≤ 0.0001), endothelial and pericyte hyperplasia (p = 0.03 and p = 0.004), hypodense areas in basal membrane, and endothelial degeneration with exfoliation of degenerated cells into the capillary lumen. Adipocytes were larger (hypertrophic) in affected (P ≤ 0.0001) and nonaffected (p = 0.0003) areas compared with those with obesity and who were lean (both p ≤ 0.0001). Frequently the cytoplasm of adipocytes contained massive deposition of calcium crystals as revealed by Von Kossa staining (p = 0.023) and electron microscopy. CD68 immunoreactive macrophages were more abundant in affected areas (p = 0.005), and their number was similar to that found in fat from patients with obesity (p = 0.17). Despite adipocyte hypertrophy and inflammation, lack of the healthy marker perilipin-1 and the presence of crown-like structures were only rarely seen, while they were quite frequent in patients with obesity. Conclusions Our data support the idea that cell alterations happen in the early stages of adipocy
What this study does not prove
- • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
Evidence level
Early human evidence such as case series or small samples is exploring possible benefits.
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