The role of adenovirus 36 as a risk factor in obesity: The first clinical study made in the fatty tissues of adults in Turkey

Obesity which developes due to multifactorial reasons, was associated recently with human Adenovirus-36 (Ad-36). The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Ad-36 antibodies in obese adults and also to investigate the DNA of Ad-36 in their adipose tissue. In this cross-sectional and case-control based study, 49 obese adults, with BMI >= 30 kg/m(2), and 49 non-obese adults, with BMI = 1:8 were accepted as positive. Ad-36 antibody was detected in 6 (12.2%) of 49 patients by SNA and was statistically significant (p 0.05), lower mean serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were found in the Ad-36-positive patients. In conclusion, we couldn't detect Ad-36 DNA in adipose tissue; however, we detected significantly higher Ad-36 antibody levels in the obese group compared to the non-obese group, according to the both univariant and multivariant analyses, suggesting that Ad-36 may play a role in obesity. There is a need for new and extended serial, particularly cohort and human-based, studies in order to have a clear understanding of the Ad-36-obesity relationship. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved