Unconventional wisdom about the obesity epidemic

American Journal of the Medical Sciences

Volumn 340, Issue 6, 2010, Pages 481-491

  Zinn, Andrew R ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

Bacteria; Genes; Obesity; Toxin; Virus

Indexed keywords

ANTIBIOTIC AGENT; PREBIOTIC AGENT; PROBIOTIC AGENT; TRACE ELEMENT;

ARTICLE; BACTERIAL INFECTION; BODY MASS; DIARRHEA; DIET; DISEASE ASSOCIATION; ENERGY EXPENDITURE; ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE; EPIDEMIC; HUMAN; INFECTION; INTESTINE FLORA; LIFESTYLE; MENTAL STRESS; NON INSULIN DEPENDENT DIABETES MELLITUS; NONHUMAN; OBESITY; PANDEMIC; SLEEP DEPRIVATION; SOCIAL NETWORK; VIRUS INFECTION; WEIGHT GAIN;

EID: 78650292555     PISSN: 00029629     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/MAJ.0b013e3181ccb980     Document Type: Article

References (127)

1. World Health Organization. Obesity and overweight. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2009.
2. Keith SW, Redden DT, Katzmarzyk PT, et al. Putative contributors to the secular increase in obesity: exploring the roads less traveled. Int J Obes (Lond) 2006;30:1585-94.
3. Puhl R, Brownell K. Bias, discrimination, and obesity. Obes Res 2001;9:788-805.
4. Friedman JM. A war on obesity, not the obese. Science 2003;299: 856-8.
5. Neel JV. Diabetes mellitus: a "thrifty" genotype rendered detrimental by "progress"? Am J Hum Genet 1962;14:353-62.
6. Chen D, Garg A. Monogenic disorders of obesity and body fat distribution. J Lipid Res 1999;40:1735-46.
7. Vaisse C, Clement K, Durand E, et al. Melanocortin-4 receptor mutations are a frequent and heterogeneous cause of morbid obesity. J Clin Invest 2000;106:253-62.
8. Frayling TM, Timpson NJ, Weedon MN, et al. A common variant in the FTO gene is associated with body mass index and predisposes to childhood and adult obesity. Science 2007;316:889-94.
9. Peters T, Ausmeier K, Ruther U. Cloning of Fatso (Fto), a novel gene deleted by the Fused toes (Ft) mouse mutation. Mamm Genome 1999;10:983-6.
10. Loos RJ, Lindgren CM, Li S, et al. Common variants near MC4R are associated with fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. Nat Genet 2008;40:768-75.
11. Hofker M, Wijmenga C. A supersized list of obesity genes. Nat Genet 2009;41:139-40.
12. Diamond JM. Human evolution. Diabetes running wild. Nature 1992;357:362-3.
13. Dowse GK, Zimmet PZ, Finch CF, et al. Decline in incidence of epidemic glucose intolerance in Nauruans: implications for the "thrifty genotype." Am J Epidemiol 1991;133:1093-104.
14. Diamond J. The double puzzle of diabetes. Nature 2003;423:599-602.
15. Speakman JR. A nonadaptive scenario explaining the genetic predisposition to obesity: the "predation release" hypothesis. Cell Metab 2007;6:5-12.
16. Speakman JR. Thrifty genes for obesity, an attractive but flawed idea, and an alternative perspective: the 'drifty gene' hypothesis. Int J Obes (Lond) 2008;32:1611-7.
17. Illius AW, Tolkamp BJ, Yearsley J. The evolution of the control of food intake. Proc Nutr Soc 2002;61:465-72.
18. Hart D, Sussman RW. Man the hunted: primates, predators, and human evolution. Boulder, CO: Westview Press; 2005.
19. Dhurandhar NV. Infectobesity: obesity of infectious origin. J Nutr 2001;131:2794S-2797S.
20. Lyons MJ, Faust IM, Hemmes RB, et al. A virally induced obesity syndrome in mice. Science 1982;216:82-5.
21. Bernard A, Fevre-Montange M, Bencsik A, et al. Brain structures selectively targeted by canine distemper virus in a mouse model infection. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 1993;52:471-80.
22. Nagashima K, Zabriskie JB, Lyons MJ. Virus-induced obesity in mice: association with a hypothalamic lesion. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 1992;51:101-9.
23. Bernard A, Cohen R, Khuth ST, et al. Alteration of the leptin network in late morbid obesity induced in mice by brain infection with canine distemper virus. J Virol 1999;73:7317-27.
24. Herden C, Herzog S, Richt JA, et al. Distribution of Borna disease virus in the brain of rats infected with an obesity-inducing virus strain. Brain Pathol 2000;10:39-48.
25. Kim YS, Carp RI, Callahan SM, et al. Scrapie-induced obesity in mice. J Infect Dis 1987;156:402-5.
26. Carter JK, Ow CL, Smith RE. Rous-associated virus type 7 induces a syndrome in chickens characterized by stunting and obesity. Infect Immun 1983;39:410-22.
27. Carter JK, Smith RE. Rapid induction of hypothyroidism by an avian leukosis virus. Infect Immun 1983;40:795-805.
28. Johnson ES. Poultry oncogenic retroviruses and humans. Cancer Detect Prev 1994;18:9-30.
29. Tsang SX, Switzer WM, Shanmugam V, et al. Evidence of avian leukosis virus subgroup E and endogenous avian virus in measles and mumps vaccines derived from chicken cells: investigation of transmission to vaccine recipients. J Virol 1999;73:5843-51.
30. Johnson JA, Heneine W. Characterization of endogenous avian leukosis viruses in chicken embryonic fibroblast substrates used in production of measles and mumps vaccines. J Virol 2001;75:3605-12.
31. Dhurandhar NV, Kulkarni P, Ajinkya SM, et al. Effect of adenovirus infection on adiposity in chicken. Vet Microbiol 1992;31:101-7.
32. Dhurandhar NV, Kulkarni PR, Ajinkya SM, et al. Association of adenovirus infection with human obesity. Obes Res 1997;5:464-9.
33. Dhurandhar NV, Israel BA, Kolesar JM, et al. Increased adiposity in animals due to a human virus. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000;24:989-96.
34. Dhurandhar NV, Israel BA, Kolesar JM, et al. Transmissibility of adenovirus-induced adiposity in a chicken model. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2001;25:990-6.
35. Whigham LD, Israel BA, Atkinson RL. Adipogenic potential of multiple human adenoviruses in vivo and in vitro in animals. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2006;290:R190-4.
36. Dhurandhar NV, Whigham LD, Abbott DH, et al. Human adenovirus Ad-36 promotes weight gain in male rhesus and marmoset monkeys. J Nutr 2002;132:3155-60.
37. Vangipuram SD, Sheele J, Atkinson RL, et al. A human adenovirus enhances preadipocyte differentiation. Obes Res 2004;12:770-7.
38. Vangipuram SD, Yu M, Tian J, et al. Adipogenic human adenovirus- 36 reduces leptin expression and secretion and increases glucose uptake by fat cells. Int J Obes (Lond) 2007;31:87-96.
39. Rogers PM, Fusinski KA, Rathod MA, et al. Human adenovirus Ad-36 induces adipogenesis via its E4 orf-1 gene. Int J Obes (Lond) 2008;32:397-406.
40. Atkinson RL, Dhurandhar NV, Allison DB, et al. Human adenovirus- 36 is associated with increased body weight and paradoxical reduction of serum lipids. Int J Obes (Lond) 2005;29:281-6.
41. Blaser MJ, Atherton JC. Helicobacter pylori persistence: biology and disease. J Clin Invest 2004;113:321-33.
42. Nwokolo CU, Freshwater DA, O'Hare P, et al. Plasma ghrelin following cure of Helicobacter pylori. Gut 2003;52:637-40.
43. Isomoto H, Nakazato M, Ueno H, et al. Low plasma ghrelin levels in patients with Helicobacter pylori-associated gastritis. Am J Med 2004;117:429-32.
44. Osawa H, Nakazato M, Date Y, et al. Impaired production of gastric ghrelin in chronic gastritis associated with Helicobacter pylori. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2005;90:10-6.
45. Shiotani A, Miyanishi T, Uedo N, et al. Helicobacter pylori infection is associated with reduced circulating ghrelin levels independent of body mass index. Helicobacter 2005;10:373-8.
46. Cho I, Blaser MJ, Francois F, et al. Helicobacter pylori and overweight status in the United States: data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Am J Epidemiol 2005;162: 579-84.
47. Cummings DE. Helicobacter pylori and ghrelin: Interrelated players in body-weight regulation? Am J Med 2004;117:436-9.
48. Turnbaugh PJ, Ley RE, Hamady M, et al. The human microbiome project. Nature 2007;449:804-10.
49. Eckburg PB, Bik EM, Bernstein CN, et al. Diversity of the human intestinal microbial flora. Science 2005;308:1635-8.
50. Backhed F, Ding H, Wang T, et al. The gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates fat storage. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2004;101:15718-23.
51. Backhed F, Manchester JK, Semenkovich CF, et al. Mechanisms underlying the resistance to diet-induced obesity in germ-free mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007;104:979-84.
52. Cani PD, Amar J, Iglesias MA, et al. Metabolic endotoxemia initiates obesity and insulin resistance. Diabetes 2007;56:1761-72.
53. Wellen KE, Hotamisligil GS. Inflammation, stress, and diabetes. J Clin Invest 2005;115:1111-9.
54. Ley RE, Backhed F, Turnbaugh P, et al. Obesity alters gut microbial ecology. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005;102:11070-5.
55. Turnbaugh PJ, Ley RE, Mahowald Ma, et al. An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest. Nature 2006;444:1027-31.
56. Ley RE, Turnbaugh PJ, Klein S, et al. Microbial ecology: human gut microbes associated with obesity. Nature 2006;444:1022-3.
57. Bajzer M, Seeley RJ. Physiology: obesity and gut flora. Nature 2006;444:1009-10.
58. Kalliomaki M, Collado MC, Salminen S, et al. Early differences in fecal microbiota composition in children may predict overweight. Am J Clin Nutr 2008;87:534-8.
59. Leung CC, Lam TH, Chan WM, et al. Lower risk of tuberculosis in obesity. Arch Intern Med 2007;167:1297-304.
60. Roth J. Evolutionary speculation about tuberculosis and the metabolic and inflammatory processes of obesity. JAMA 2009;301:2586-8.
61. Gibson GR, Roberfroid MB. Dietary modulation of the human colonic microbiota: introducing the concept of prebiotics. J Nutr 1995;125:1401-12.
62. Cani PD, Dewever C, Delzenne NM. Inulin-type fructans modulate gastrointestinal peptides involved in appetite regulation (glucagon-like peptide-1 and ghrelin) in rats. Br J Nutr 2004;92:521-6.
63. Cani PD, Neyrinck AM, Maton N, et al. Oligofructose promotes satiety in rats fed a high-fat diet: involvement of glucagon-like Peptide-1. Obes Res 2005;13:1000-7.
64. Archer BJ, Johnson SK, Devereux HM, et al. Effect of fat replacement by inulin or lupin-kernel fibre on sausage patty acceptability, post-meal perceptions of satiety and food intake in men. Br J Nutr 2004;91:591-9.
65. Cani PD, Joly E, Horsmans Y, et al. Oligofructose promotes satiety in healthy human: a pilot study. Eur J Clin Nutr 2006;60:567-72.
66. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and World Health Organization. Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria. Report of a Joint FAO/WHO expert consultation on evaluation of health and nutritional properties of probiotics in food including powder milk with live lactic acid bacteria. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2001.
67. Lee HY, Park JH, Seok SH, et al. Human originated bacteria, Lactobacillus rhamnosus PL60, produce conjugated linoleic acid and show anti-obesity effects in diet-induced obese mice. Biochim Biophys Acta 2006;1761:736-44.
68. Park Y, Albright KJ, Liu W, et al. Effect of conjugated linoleic acid on body composition in mice. Lipids 1997;32:853-8. (Pubitemid 27360392)
69. Park Y, Albright KJ, Storkson JM, et al. Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) prevents body fat accumulation and weight gain in an animal model. J Food Sci 2007;72:S612-7.
70. Raoult D. Human microbiome: take-home lesson on growth promoters? Nature 2008;454:690-1.
71. Ternak G. Antibiotics may act as growth/obesity promoters in humans as an inadvertent result of antibiotic pollution? Med Hypotheses 2005;64:14-6.
72. Raoult D. Obesity pandemics and the modification of digestive bacterial flora. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2008;27:631-4.
73. Palmer C, Bik EM, DiGiulio DB, et al. Development of the human infant intestinal microbiota. PLoS Biol 2007;5:e177.
74. Baillie-Hamilton PF. Chemical toxins: a hypothesis to explain the global obesity epidemic. J Altern Complement Med 2002;8:185-92.
75. Stemp-Morlock G. Exploring developmental origins of obesity. Environ Health Perspect 2007;115:A242.
76. Elobeid MA, Allison DB. Putative environmental-endocrine disruptors and obesity: a review. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes 2008;15:403-8.
77. Dodds EC, Lawson W. Synthetic oestrogenic agents without the phenanthrene nucleus. Nature 1936;137:996.
78. Masuno H, Kidani T, Sekiya K, et al. Bisphenol A in combination with insulin can accelerate the conversion of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts to adipocytes. J Lipid Res 2002;43:676-84.
79. Howdeshell KL, Hotchkiss AK, Thayer KA, et al. Exposure to bisphenol A advances puberty. Nature 1999;401:763-4.
80. Chevrier J, Dewailly E, Ayotte P, et al. Body weight loss increases plasma and adipose tissue concentrations of potentially toxic pollutants in obese individuals. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000;24: 1272-8.
81. Tremblay A, Chaput JP. About unsuspected potential determinants of obesity. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2008;33:791-6.
82. Zemel MB, Shi H, Greer B, et al. Regulation of adiposity by dietary calcium. FASEB J 2000;14:1132-8.
83. Major GC, Chaput JP, Ledoux M, et al. Recent developments in calcium-related obesity research. Obes Rev 2008;9:428-45.
84. Nachtigal MC, Patterson RE, Stratton KL, et al. Dietary supplements and weight control in a middle-age population. J Altern Complement Med 2005;11:909-15.
85. Singh RB, Beegom R, Rastogi SS, et al. Association of low plasma concentrations of antioxidant vitamins, magnesium and zinc with high body fat per cent measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis in Indian men. Magnes Res 1998;11:3-10.
86. Torres SJ, Nowson CA. Relationship between stress, eating behavior, and obesity. Nutrition 2007;23:887-94.
87. Oliver G, Wardle J, Gibson EL. Stress and food choice: a laboratory study. Psychosom Med 2000;62:853-65.
88. Prentice AM, Jebb SA. Fast foods, energy density and obesity: a possible mechanistic link. Obes Rev 2003;4:187-94.
89. McCann BS, Warnick GR, Knopp RH. Changes in plasma lipids and dietary intake accompanying shifts in perceived workload and stress. Psychosom Med 1990;52:97-108.
90. Tremblay A, Therrien F. Physical activity and body functionality: implications for obesity prevention and treatment. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 2006;84:149-56.
91. Kaiser J. Biomedical research. Stimulus funding elicits a tidal wave of 'challenge grants.' Science 2009;324:867.
92. Christakis NA, Fowler JH. The spread of obesity in a large social network over 32 years. N Engl J Med 2007;357:370-9.
93. Kolata G. Study says obesity can be contagious, in NY Times. New York; 2007.
94. Barabasi AL. Network medicine-from obesity to the "diseasome." N Engl J Med 2007;357:404-7.
95. Christakis NA, Fowler JH. The collective dynamics of smoking in a large social network. N Engl J Med 2008;358:2249-58.
96. Fowler JH, Christakis NA. Dynamic spread of happiness in a large social network: longitudinal analysis over 20 years in the Framingham Heart Study. BMJ 2008;337:a2338.
97. Raspe H, Hueppe A, Neuhauser H. Back pain, a communicable disease? Int J Epidemiol 2008;37:69-74.
98. Cohen-Cole E, Fletcher JM. Detecting implausible social network effects in acne, height, and headaches: longitudinal analysis. BMJ 2008;337:a2533.
99. Cohen-Cole E, Fletcher JM. Is obesity contagious? Social networks vs. environmental factors in the obesity epidemic. J Health Econ 2008;27:1382-7.
100. Ravelli GP, Stein ZA, Susser MW. Obesity in young men after famine exposure in utero and early infancy. N Engl J Med 1976;295: 349-53.
101. Taylor PD, Poston L. Developmental programming of obesity in mammals. Exp Physiol 2007;92:287-98.
102. Barker DJ. The origins of the developmental origins theory. J Intern Med 2007;261:412-7.
103. Heijmans BT, Tobi EW, Stein AD, et al. Persistent epigenetic differences associated with prenatal exposure to famine in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2008;105:17046-9.
104. Tamashiro KL, Wakayama T, Akutsu H, et al. Cloned mice have an obese phenotype not transmitted to their offspring. Nat Med 2002;8:262-7.
105. Freinkel N. Banting Lecture 1980. Of pregnancy and progeny. Diabetes 1980;29:1023-35.
106. Curhan GC, Willett WC, Rimm EB, et al. Birth weight and adult hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity in US men. Circulation 1996;94:3246-50.
107. Curhan GC, Chertow GM, Willett WC, et al. Birth weight and adult hypertension and obesity in women. Circulation 1996;94:1310-5.
108. Rogers I. Birth weight and obesity and fat distribution in later life. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2005;73:485-6.
109. Hillier TA, Pedula KL, Schmidt MM, et al. Childhood obesity and metabolic imprinting: the ongoing effects of maternal hyperglycemia. Diabetes Care 2007;30:2287-92.
110. Ludwig DS. Childhood obesity-the shape of things to come. N Engl J Med 2007;357:2325-7.
111. Ebbeling CB, Pawlak DB, Ludwig DS. Childhood obesity: publichealth crisis, common sense cure. Lancet 2002;360:473-82.
112. Elliott P, Chambers JC, Zhang W, et al. Genetic Loci associated with C-reactive protein levels and risk of coronary heart disease. JAMA 2009;302:37-48.
113. Lawlor DA, Timpson NJ, Harbord RM, et al. Exploring the developmental overnutrition hypothesis using parental-offspring associations and FTO as an instrumental variable. PLoS Med 2008;5:e33.
114. Ding EL, HU FB. Determining origins and causes of childhood obesity via Mendelian randomization analysis. PLoS Med 2008;5:e65.
115. Kripke DF, Garfinkel L, Wingard DL, et al. Mortality associated with sleep duration and insomnia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002;59: 131-6.
116. Chaput JP, Despres JP, Bouchard C, et al. The association between sleep duration and weight gain in adults: a 6-year prospective study from the Quebec Family Study. Sleep 2008;31:517-23.
117. Taheri S, Lin L, Austin D, et al. Short sleep duration is associated with reduced leptin, elevated ghrelin, and increased body mass index. PLoS Med 2004;1:e62.
118. Prinz P. Sleep, appetite, and obesity-what is the link? PLoS Med 2004;1:e61.
119. Spiegel K, Tasali E, Penev P, et al. Brief communication: Sleep curtailment in healthy young men is associated with decreased leptin levels, elevated ghrelin levels, and increased hunger and appetite. Ann Intern Med 2004;141:846-50.
120. Thannickal TC, Moore RY, Nienhuis R, et al. Reduced number of hypocretin neurons in human narcolepsy. Neuron 2000;27:469-74.
121. Schuld A, Hebebrand J, Geller F, et al. Increased body-mass index in patients with narcolepsy. Lancet 2000;355:1274-5.
122. Hara J, Beuckmann CT, Nambu T, et al. Genetic ablation of orexin neurons in mice results in narcolepsy, hypophagia, and obesity. Neuron 2001;30:345-54.
123. King DP, Zhao Y, Sangoram AM, et al. Positional cloning of the mouse circadian clock gene. Cell 1997;89:641-53.
124. Turek FW, Joshu C, Kohsaka A, et al. Obesity and metabolic syndrome in circadian Clock mutant mice. Science 2005;308:1043-5.
125. Flegal KM, Troiano RP, Pamuk ER, et al. The influence of smoking cessation on the prevalence of overweight in the United States. N Engl J Med 1995;333:1165-70.
126. Swinburn B. Increased energy intake alone virtually explains all the increase in body weight in the United States from the 1970s to the 2000s, in ECO 2009. Presented at: 17th European Congress on Obesity 2009. Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 2009.
127. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Flegal KM. High body mass index for age among US children and adolescents, 2003-2006. JAMA 2008;299: 2401-5.