Human obesity association with infections

The factors leading to the development of pulmonary hypertension are unclear, although associations with portal hypertension and pregnancy have been detected. Obesity by itself may double the risk of pulmonary hypertension. Additionally, the use of cocaine or oral contraceptives, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the use of anorexic agents, hepatic cirrhosis, genetic susceptibility, and female sex in the third to fourth decades of life also have been implicated as predisposing factors. Exposure of patients to fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine has been associated with 20% of all diagnosed cases of pulmonary hypertension. ... 

Year first reported Animal model used, age, and sex Duration of onset of obesity Effect of infection on body weight Effect of infection on biochemical parameters Association with human obesity... 

Obesity is associated with impaired immunity (Fried et al, 1998 Tanaka et al, 1993 Visser et al, 1999) and as suggested by Ekesbo et al. (2000) obesity might be the indicator for increased susceptibility to H. pylori and CP infection (Ekesbo et al., 2000). However, Dart et al. (2002) found no preponderance of antibodies to Chlamydia trachomatis and Chlamydia pssit-taci in the same subject population. Lack of relationship of BMI with prevalence of antibodies to C. trachomatis and C. pssittaci indicated that increased BMI did not necessarily predispose the subjects to catch infection. Experiments with animal models designed to investigate the adipogenic potential of CP and human sero-epidemiological data are needed to further determine the role of CP in obesity. 

Prevalence of Ad-36 antibodies in human population may vary by the geographic locations. Only 5% of the subjects screened in Denmark had antibodies to Ad-36 (Raben et al., 2001). Ad-36 is the first human virus reported to show an association with human obesity. Due to ethical reasons, it is not possible to infect humans with a virus, which precludes unequivocal demonstration of causative role of Ad-36 in human obesity. Future experiments are likely to generate indirect and circumstantial evidence. 

Association of adenovirus infection with human obesity. Obes. Res. 5, 464-469. 

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