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Association of human adenovirus-36 in overweight Korean adults

International Journal of Obesity volume 36, pages 281–285 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

Although human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36) has been reported to be associated with obesity in US adults and children, Korean children and the Italian population, the association has not been found in Dutch or Belgian populations or in US military subjects. Therefore, we examined whether Ad-36 infection is associated with obesity in Korean adults.

Methods:

A total of 540 age- and sex-matched individuals, who were normal weight, overweight or obese, were selected from participants in routine health examinations at the Ewha Womans University Medical Center. Overweight participants were defined as those with a body mass index (BMI) of 23⩽BMI<25 kg m−2 and obese subjects were those with BMI⩾25 kg m−2, according to the International Obesity Task Force definition. Ad-36 antibody was measured using a serum neutralization assay.

Results:

Although more overweight participants than normal or obese subjects tested positive for the Ad-36 antibody (40%, 32.8% and 30%, respectively), the differences were not significant. The participants who tested positive for Ad-36 antibody had lower levels of triglycerides (TG) in each of the three groups, higher total cholesterol (TC) in the obese group and higher high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) in both the normal and obese groups. The odds ratio (OR) for Ad-36 antibody positivity was greater in overweight than in normal subjects (OR=2.03; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16–3.55) after adjusting for age, sex and waist circumference. However, this OR was non-significant in the obese group (OR=1.56; 95% CI, 0.67–3.67).

Conclusion:

Ad-36 seems to be strongly associated with overweight, but not obese, Korean adults.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by grants from the Seoul R & BD Program, Republic of Korea (10526), the Catholic University of Korea Research Fund 2010, the GRRC of the Catholic University of Korea, the Biogreen21 Program (PJ007186) of Rural Development of Administration, and MKE and KOTEF through the Human Resource Training Project for Strategic Technology.

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Author notes

  1. H-N Na, J Kim and H S Lee: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea

    H-N Na & J-H Nam

  2. Department of Food and Nutrition, Daegu University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, Korea,

    J Kim

  3. Departments of Family Medicine, Ewha Womans University Medical School, Yangchun-gu, Seoul, Korea

    H S Lee & K W Shim

  4. Institute for Health Promotion & Department of Epidemiology and Health Promotion, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seodamun-gu, Seoul, Korea

    H Kimm & S H Jee

  5. Molecular Medicine, Ewha Womans University Medical School, Yangchun-gu, Seoul, Korea

    I Jo

  6. The Catholic Institute for Advanced Biomaterials, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, Korea

    J-H Nam

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  1. H-N Na
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to I Jo or J-H Nam.

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Na, HN., Kim, J., Lee, H. et al. Association of human adenovirus-36 in overweight Korean adults. Int J Obes 36, 281–285 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2011.102

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