Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2026

Assessment of Viability of Human Fat Injection into Nude Mice with Micro-Computed Tomography
Published on: January 7, 2015
Lipoatrophy revisited
M L Reitman1, E Arioglu, O Gavrilova
1Diabetes Branch, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 8N-250, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-1770, USA. mlr@helix.nih.gov
Abstract:
The lipoatrophy syndromes are a heterogeneous group of syndromes characterized by a paucity of adipose tissue. Severe lipoatrophy is associated with insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus (DM). The loss of adipose tissue can have a genetic, immune, or infectious/drug-associated etiology. Causative mutations have been identified in patients for one form of partial lipoatrophy--Dunnigan-type familial partial lipodystrophy. Experiments using lipoatrophic mice demonstrate that the diabetes results from the lack of fat and that leptin deficiency is a contributing factor. Thiazolidinedione therapy improves metabolic control in lipoatrophic patients; the efficacy of leptin treatment is currently being investigated.

