A medical condition characterized by abnormal or degenerative conditions of the body’s adipose tissue.
Abnormal pattern of subcutaneous fat deposits.
A disorder of lipid metabolism.
The lipodystrophies are disorders characterized by loss of body fat and other abnormalities affecting multiple bodily systems. The fat loss may be generalized, affecting extensive areas of the body, or it may be partial, affecting only limited areas of the body. The disorder can be congenital, in which fat loss is usually present at birth. It can also be acquired, often developing after an illness or infection.
Any disturbance of fat metabolism or of the distribution of fat in the body. In inferior lipodystrophy fat is absent from the legs; in insulin lipodystrophy, sometimes occurring in diabetics, it disappears from the areas at which insulin is injected.
A congenital maldistribution of fat tissue. Subcutaneous fat is totally absent from a portion of the body and hypertrophied in the remainder. Another form of lipodystrophy occurs at the site of insulin injections, but is now much less frequently seen since synthetic preparations of insulin are pure and unlikely to cause this reaction. Occasionally the converse occurs at the site of insulin injections, where the lipogenic action of insulin stimulates the fat cells to hypertrophy. This can also be disfiguring and usually results from frequent use of the same site for injections.
Disturbance of fat metabolism. Common findings include the localized accumulation of fat under the skin and on the trunk, or fatty atrophy.
This kind of disorder disrupts the metabolism (chemical transformation) of fat within the body, resulting in irregularities in the distribution of body fat.
A form of lipodystrophy emerges in individuals receiving protease inhibitor medications for HIV. This variation leads to the thinning of the limbs, buttocks, and face, accompanied by an accumulation of excessive fat in the abdominal region, chest or breasts, back, and neck. Those affected also exhibit elevated lipid levels in their bloodstream.
A different variation, known as total lipodystrophy, arises from an autosomal recessive genetic condition. In this particular disorder, the entire body experiences fat loss, accompanied by an elevated basal metabolic rate, excessive body hair (hirsutism), enlarged liver, and insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus.