Table 1.

Pathogens associated with obesity

Pathogen	Effect	Mechanisms	Ref
CDV	Increased body weight in Swiss albino mice	Altered hypothalamic integrity; increased cytokine production, hyperinsulinemia and decreased leptin and neuropeptides	[15-17,21,22]
RAV-7	Stunting, anemia and increased visceral fat in white leghorn chickens	Decreased thyroxine, hyperlipidemia and hyperinsulinemia	[23,24]
BDV	Obesity with increased visceral fat in Lewis rats	Inflammatory lesions in hypothalamus, increased triglyceride and blood glucose	[35,36]
SMAM-1	Stunting and increased visceral fat in white leghorn chickens	Impaired liver function and lipogenesis and glucagon deficiency	[49,50]
Scrapie agent	Increased body weight and fat accumulation in mice	Altered brain function and reduced GLUT-1	[43,44]
Adenovirus	Increased body weight in chickens, mice, rats and monkeys; seropositive subjects were heavier than seronegative counterparts	Increased replication, differentiation and lipid accumulation of preadipocytes	[51-60]

CDV: Canine distemper virus; RAV-7: Rous-associated virus-7; BDV: Borna disease virus; Ref: Reference.