Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Nation & World


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published August 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified August 21, 2007 at 2:06 AM

E-mail article     Print view

Virus may be partly to blame for obesity

In the buffet of reasons for why Americans are getting fatter, researchers are piling more evidence on the plate for one still-controversial...

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — In the buffet of reasons for why Americans are getting fatter, researchers are piling more evidence on the plate for one still-controversial cause: a virus.

New research announced Monday found that when human stem cells were exposed to a common virus they turned into fat cells and began storing fat.

This adds to other recent evidence that blames some expanding waistlines on more than just super-sized appetites and underused muscles.

For several years, researchers have looked at a possible link between obesity and this common virus, called adenovirus-36, from a family of viruses that cause colds and pinkeye in people. They had already found that a higher percentage of fat people had been infected with the virus than people who were not fat.

But ethical restraints kept researchers from exposing people to the virus to see what happened. So they did what would be considered the next best thing, said Nikhil Dhurandhar, who headed the research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in the Louisiana State University system.

They took fat tissue from people who had liposuction, removed adult stem cells from the tissue and exposed the cells to the virus in the lab. Adult stem cells can turn into different types of specialized cells to help the body heal itself.

More than half of the stem cells exposed to the virus turned into fat cells and accumulated fat, while only a small percentage of the non-exposed stem cells did the same, said researcher Dr. Magdalena Pasarica, who presented the results Monday at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in Boston.

"It's the first time we see an effect in human cells," Pasarica said in a phone interview.

If a viral cause of obesity can be confirmed, a vaccine could be developed to prevent the virus from making some people fat, Dhurandhar said. However, it wouldn't help people who already are obese, he said.

Outside experts are intrigued but worry about people blaming all obesity on viruses.

"The cause for obesity in everyone is the same," said Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "You eat more calories than you burn up."

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

More Nation & World headlines...

E-mail article Print view      Share:    Digg     Newsvine

advertising

NEW - 11:05 PM
A Bing deal for Microsoft, News Corp.?

NEW - 11:02 PM
Amazon, Wal-Mart escalate Web price war

NEW - 10:40 PM
8 charged in probe of terrorism-recruiting network in U.S.

Hate crimes against gays, religious groups up, FBI says

UPDATE - 12:02 AM
Legislators begin Sanford impeachment hearings

Advertising

Video

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.

Real Salt Lake wins MLS Cup
Raw Video | Real Salt Lake fans celebrate
Raw Video | Real Salt Lake receives the MLS Cup trophy
Real Salt Lake fans enter Qwest Field
Raw Video | MLS Cup Opening Ceremony
LA Galaxy's David Beckham
Real Salt Lake's Kyle Beckerman
MLS trophy arrives in Seattle
Chittenden Locks Inspection

Marketplace

Open Houses

Find this weekend's open house listings.
Or search by location:

nwautos

Less is more: Group rides, good gas mileage have led to a scooter swarm in Seattlenew
Local riders say they've seen a surge in scooter interest in recent years, mostly from people wanting another commuting option. Seattle now ranks as o...
Post a comment

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising