Human Adenovirus-36 Antibody Status and Development of Childhood Obesity

描述(由申请人提供)：在过去的30年里，美国儿童和青少年肥胖症的流行率大约增加了两倍，全球也观察到了类似的趋势。这是一个重大的公共卫生问题，因为肥胖的儿童和青少年在短期和长期内面临着更大的一系列健康问题的风险。人们已经投入了大量的科学努力来了解儿童肥胖的原因，以及肥胖的整体流行。即使做出了这一重大努力，人们对整个生命过程中肥胖的病因仍有不完全的理解。可以得出的结论是，肥胖的原因是不同的，很可能是与能量摄入和消耗有关的因素、遗传和环境因素之间复杂的相互作用的结果。尽管认识不完全，但绝大多数研究仍然集中在与能量摄入和消耗有关的因素上，较少集中在遗传学、社会经济和心理社会方面；科学界认识到，除了这些因素外，研究工作需要更全面。与肥胖相关的一个新兴领域的研究检查了一种传染性因素，特别是人腺病毒-36(Adv36)。动物研究一直表明，感染Adv36会导致脂肪组织过度沉积和肥胖，而细胞和分子研究则提供了可信的潜在机制。对人体的研究仅限于目前为止。一些成年人的横断面研究已经检验了Adv36感染的血清阳性是否与肥胖有关。有些人在肥胖者和非肥胖者中显示出明显更高的Adv36血清阳性比例，而另一些人在感染率上没有发现差异。另一方面，少数在儿童中研究这一问题的横断面研究都发现，肥胖儿童与非肥胖儿童相比，Adv36血清阳性的患病率更高。这些人体研究很有趣，但受限于缺乏时间性、小样本和简单的统计方法。因此，我们建议进行更彻底的研究。具体地说，来自NHLBI国家生长与健康研究(NGHS)的839名黑人和白人女孩，我们将使用金标准试验在两个时间点评估Adv36的血清阳性。我们将把这一新的衡量标准整合到这项研究的丰富数据库中，并进行全面的统计分析，用儿童肥胖症的衡量标准来检查Adv36感染的各个方面。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The prevalence of childhood and adolescent obesity in the United States has approximately tripled over the last 30 years, with similar trends observed globally. This is a significant public health issue as children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for a spectrum of health problems in the near and long term. Substantial scientific effort has been devoted to understanding the causes of childhood obesity, and the overall obesity epidemic. Even with this significant endeavor there is an incomplete understanding of the etiology of obesity throughout the life-course. What can be concluded is that the causes of obesity are heterogeneous and likely result from a complex interplay between factors related to energy intake and expenditure, genetics, and environmental factors. Despite this incomplete understanding the vast majority of research has continued to focus on factors related to energy intake and expenditure and to a lesser extent genetics, socioeconomic and psychosocial aspects; the scientific community is acknowledging that research efforts need to be more comprehensive beyond these factors One burgeoning area of obesity related research has examined an infectious contributor, specifically human adenovirus-36 (Adv36). Animal studies have consistently shown that infection with Adv36 leads to excess adipose tissue deposition and obesity, while cellular and molecular studies have provided plausible underlying mechanisms. The studies in humans are limited to date. A handful of cross-sectional studies in adults have examined whether seropositivity for Adv36 infection is associated with obesity. Some showed a significantly greater proportion of Adv36 seropositivity in obese vs. non-obese participants, whereas others found no difference in prevalence of infection. On the other hand, the few cross-sectional studies that have examined this question in children all found a greater prevalence of Adv36 seropositivity in obese vs. non- obese children. These human studies are intriguing but limited by the lack of temporality, small samples, and simple statistical approaches. Therefore, we are proposing a more thorough study. Specifically, in 839 black and white girls from the NHLBI National Growth and Health Study (NGHS) we will assess the seropositivity of Adv36 at two time points using the gold standard assay. We will integrate this new measure into the rich database from the study and carry out comprehensive statistical analyses examining aspects of Adv36 infection with measures of childhood obesity.