Adenovirus 36 and its effect on vitamin D levels in obese and overweight patients

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Adenovirus-36 (Ad-36) in overweight and obese patients and the effects of this virus on some metabolic parameters.

The study included 236 female patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25. The patients were separated into 2 groups as overweight (BMI: 25-29.99) and obese (BMI ≥ 30). To quantitatively determine the antibody (Ab) specific to adenovirus type 36 in the serum samples, the enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) method was used (AdV36-Ab, ELISA Kit, MyBioSource). Laboratoryparameters were compared between patients who are Ad-36 Ab positive and negative.

Of the total 236 patients, 82 (34.7%) were determined as Ad-36 positive and 154 (65.3%) were negative. Ad-36 Ab positivity was statistically significantly higher in the obese group (p = 0.018). The HOMA-IR index, triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein were found to be the same in both groups with no statistically significant differences(p > 0.05). Vitamin D levels were significantly higher in BMI ≥ 30 Ad-36 Ab positive group than negative group (p < 0.05).

The frequency ofAd-36 Ab positivity was significantly higher in the obese group than in the overweight group. These results can be considered to shed a different perspective from previous reports in literature as only overweight and obese females were included. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to have shown that Ad-36 has the effect of elevating the Vitamin D levels.