The obesity that makes so much trouble for people across the whole world may be caused by a common virus, according to recent studies. So far, experts proved that obesity may be caused by overeating, the lack of physical exercise, genetic factors, certain medications, and high-fat food consumption.
The study`s results showed that a common virus, called human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36), that leads to respiratory and eye infections in humans, is also responsible for turning adult stem cells into fat cells. The laboratory experiments proved that stem cells that did not interacted with the virus didn`t turned into fat.
This does not mean that the Ad-36 virus is the only factor that leads to obesity, according to Dr. Magdalena Pasarica at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana. However, the results offer strong evidence that viral infections may sometimes lead to obesity, said Pasarica.
Researchers took adult stem cells from patients who suffered undergone liposuction and exposed half of them to the virus, while the other half remained unexposed. After a week, the cells exposed to the Ad-36 virus had transformed into fat cells, while the unexposed half remained intact.
A previous study showed that almost thirty percent of obese people are also infected with Ad-36, while only eleven percent of normal-weight people carry this virus.
Future research is needed in order to find out extra information regarding the Ad-36 virus. Researchers believe that obesity may be also caused by other viruses with similar effects.
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