Los mecanismos moleculares subyacentes a la enfermedad de Dercum: exploración de la intersección entre obesidad, dolor e inflamación.
Authors
Reytor González Claudia María
Jiménez Flores , Emilia
Campuzano Donoso , Martín
Toral Noristz , Melannie Denisse
Román Galeano , Náthaly Mercedes
Simancas Racines , Daniel Alejandro
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2026, 18/11/2025
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Obesity is increasingly recognized not only as a metabolic disorder, but also as a state of chronic low-grade inflammation that predisposes to systemic complications. Within this context, Dercum’s disease (DD), or adiposis dolorosa, emerges as a rare yet debilitat ing disorder characterized by painful subcutaneous lipomas, most commonly affecting middle-aged women. Despite its clinical impact, DD remains underdiagnosed and is often misclassified as lipedema, fibromyalgia, or lipomatosis, complicating prevalence estimates and hindering the development of targeted interventions. Current evidence suggests that DDrepresents a distinctive model of inflammatory obesity, where adipose tissue actively AcademicEditor: Ching-YiChen Received: 16September2025 Revised: 27October2025 Accepted: 28October2025 Published: 18 November2025 Citation: Reytor-González, C.; Jiménez-Flores, E.; Toral-Noristz, M.; Campuzano-Donoso,M.;Román Galeano, N.M.;Simancas-Racines, D. The Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Dercum’sDisease: Exploring the Intersection of Obesity, Pain, andInflammation. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26, 11130. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/ijms262211130 Copyright: ©2025bytheauthors. Licensee MDPI,Basel,Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/). contributes to pain generation rather than serving as a passive fat reservoir. Histological and molecular findings point to adipose tissue dysfunction, immune cell infiltration, and elevated secretion of pro-inflammatory adipokines, signals which appear to fuel systemic low-grade inflammation, perineural immune interactions, and nociceptor sensitization. Peripheral mechanisms further shape the clinical phenotype. While familial clustering suggests possible genetic contributions, no definitive markers have been identified, and the role of obesity-induced epigenetic modifications remains unexplored. Therapeutic strategies remain largely symptomatic, including analgesics, antidepressants, physical re habilitation, and surgical excision of lipomas, whereas molecularly targeted and diet-based interventions are still experimental. This article discusses the pathophysiology of DD, current treatments, and future perspectives, emphasizing that advancing patient registries, omics-based analyses, and interdisciplinary clinical trials will be crucial to elucidate disease mechanisms and guide novel therapies. Improved understanding of DD may not only enhance patient care, but also provide broader insights into the interplay between obesity, inflammation, and chronic pain.
Description
Keywords
Dercum’s disease, Adiposis dolorosa, Chronic pain; obesity, Inflammation, Therapeutic strategies
Citation
Reytor-González, C., Jiménez-Flores, E., Toral-Noristz, M., Campuzano-Donoso, M., Román-Galeano, NM, & Simancas-Racines, D. (2025). Los mecanismos moleculares subyacentes a la enfermedad de Dercum: exploración de la intersección de la obesidad, el dolor y la inflamación. Revista Internacional de Ciencias Moleculares , 26 (22), 11130. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms262211130