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的患病率大约增加了两倍，在全球范围内也观察到类似的趋势。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近期和长期内面临一系列健康问题的风险更大。大量的科学努力致力于了解儿童肥胖的原因，以及整体肥胖的流行。即使有了这一重大的努力，在整个生命过程中，对肥胖的病因仍有不完全的了解。可以得出的结论是，肥胖的原因是多种多样的，可能是与能量摄入和消耗、遗传和环境因素相关的因素之间复杂的相互作用的结果。尽管这种不完整的理解，绝大多数研究继续关注与能量摄入和消耗有关的因素，在较小程度上关注遗传、社会经济和社会心理方面的因素；科学界正在认识到，除了这些因素之外，研究工作还需要更加全面。一个新兴的肥胖相关研究领域已经研究了一种传染性因素，特别是人类腺病毒36 （Adv36）。动物研究一致表明，Adv36感染导致过量脂肪组织沉积和肥胖，而细胞和分子研究提供了合理的潜在机制。迄今为止，对人类的研究是有限的。一些针对成人的横断面研究检验了Adv36感染的血清阳性是否与肥胖有关。一些研究显示肥胖和非肥胖参与者中Adv36血清阳性的比例显著高于非肥胖参与者，而另一些研究则发现感染的患病率没有差异。另一方面，在儿童中检查这个问题的几项横断面研究都发现肥胖儿童与非肥胖儿童中Adv36血清阳性的患病率更高。这些人类研究是有趣的，但由于缺乏时间性，小样本，和简单的统计方法的限制。因此，我们建议进行更深入的研究。具体来说，在来自NHLBI国家生长与健康研究（NGHS）的839名黑人和白人女孩中，我们将使用金标准法在两个时间点评估Adv36的血清阳性。我们将把这一新措施整合到该研究的丰富数据库中，并对Adv36感染与儿童肥胖措施的各个方面进行全面的统计分析。

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.