Viral obesity

Scientists Say Common Virus Could Cause Obesity

The study showed that Ad-36 caused fat accumulation in animals infected with the virus. The research team then carried out an epidemiological study that showed 30 per cent of obese people were infected with Ad-36, compared with only 11 per cent of lean people.

It was not until this latest study that they were able to show how the virus actually increases fat in humans, according to the researchers.

The research team has also identified a gene in the Ad-36 virus, called E4Orfl, that seems to play a key role in switching on the fat accumulation process in infected animals. The gene could be a target for a range of human therapies, including vaccines and anti-virals, to treat obesity, said Pasarica.

Apart from discovering that stem cells turn into fat cells in the presence of this gene, the scientists know little else about the virus, and they don't rule out the possibility that other viruses could have similar effects, creating a picture of obesity as being a complex disease involving different viruses.