The Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow of Pathogen-induced Obesity

• Published in: Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome pp. 187 - 196
• Main Authors: 나하나, 남재환
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한비만학회 01.12.2013
• Subjects: 가정의학
• ISSN: 2508-6235; 2508-7576

The American Medical Association officially declared obesity a disease. However, obesity is caused by genetic, social, environmental, and physiological factors. Among the many factors, infection by some pathogens has a significant impact on obesity and has been called infectobesity. In particular, human adenovirus 36 (Ad36) increases adipose tissue in animals and body fat in humans. Interestingly,Ad36-induced obesity paradoxically improves glycemic control by decreasing serum triglycerides, cholesterol, and insulin, in contrast to high-fat diet obesity. Some epidemiological studies in Korea, the US, and Italy have demonstrated that Ad36 infection is associated with human obesity. The virus-infected subjects in those studies showed increased body fat and body mass index but decreased serum lipid and insulin levels. This phenomenon may be affected by inflammation, mitochondrial activity, and glucose uptake. Moreover the Ad36 gene, E4orf1, also increases adipogenesis and improves glucose uptake. Therefore, E4orf1 may be a template for a therapeutic agent to treat hyperinsulinemia. Thus, Ad36 and E4orf1 are crucial therapeutic agents to treat obesity-related metabolic diseases. KCI Citation Count: 0