Background: Although the human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36) has been associated with obesity and related lipid disorders in the United States, this association has yet to be identified in other countries. Therefore, we tried to determine whether Ad-36 is associated with obesity or lipid disorders in Korean schoolchildren. Method: A total of 318 Korean schoolchildren aged 6-15 years, who participated in the Ewha Womans University Obesity Research Study, were selected for a community-based cohort study. Non-obese and obese were defined as body mass index (BMI) o85th and X95th percentiles of the Korean reference BMI-for-age curves, respectively, according to International Obesity Task Force definitions. The cutoff points for lipid disorders were modified from the age-modified standards of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)-Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III metabolic syndrome criteria. The Ad-36 antibody was measured using a serum neutralization assay. Results: More obese participants than non-obese participants tested positive for the Ad-36 antibody (28.57 vs 13.56%, respectively; P ¼ 0.0174). Within the obese group, the participants who tested positive for the Ad-36 antibody had higher levels of triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol than those who tested negative for the Ad-36 antibody (Po0.001). However, these associations were not present in the non-obese group. The unadjusted odds ratio (OR) for Ad-36 antibody positivity was greater in obese participants than non-obese participants (OR ¼ 2.550, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.154-5.633). However, this OR seemed to be nonsignificant when age, sex and lipid variables were included in the analysis (OR ¼ 1.752, 95% CI: 0.763-4.020). The unadjusted OR for the elevated TG was significantly higher in participants who were Ad-36 antibody-positive than those who were Ad-36 antibody-negative (OR ¼ 2.511, 95% CI: 1.448-4.353). This trend remained constant even after adjustment for age, sex and obesity (OR ¼ 2.328, 95% CI: 1.296-4.181). Conclusion: Ad-36 seems to be strongly associated with lipid disorders in Korean schoolchildren regardless of obesity.

Background: Although human adenovirus-36 (Ad-36) has been reported to be associated with obesity in US adults and children, Korean children and the Italian population, the association has not been found in Dutch or Belgian populations or in US military subjects. Therefore, we examined whether Ad-36 infection is associated with obesity in Korean adults. Methods: A total of 540 age-and sex-matched individuals, who were normal weight, overweight or obese, were selected from participants in routine health examinations at the Ewha Womans University Medical Center. Overweight participants were defined as those with a body mass index (BMI) of 23pBMIo25 kg m À2 and obese subjects were those with BMIX25 kg m À2 , according to the International Obesity Task Force definition. Ad-36 antibody was measured using a serum neutralization assay. Results: Although more overweight participants than normal or obese subjects tested positive for the Ad-36 antibody (40%, 32.8% and 30%, respectively), the differences were not significant. The participants who tested positive for Ad-36 antibody had lower levels of triglycerides (TG) in each of the three groups, higher total cholesterol (TC) in the obese group and higher highdensity lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) in both the normal and obese groups. The odds ratio (OR) for Ad-36 antibody positivity was greater in overweight than in normal subjects (OR ¼ 2.03; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16-3.55) after adjusting for age, sex and waist circumference. However, this OR was non-significant in the obese group (OR ¼ 1.56; 95% CI, 0.67-3.67).