Seroprevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of Toxoplasma gondii infection in patients with psychiatric disorders in Malaysia

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of T. gondii infection in psychiatric disorder patients. We also investigated the potential association between sociodemographic, clinical manifestation, and behaviour of Toxoplasma-seropositive patients with psychiatric disorders. Commercial ELISAs (IgG, IgM, and IgG avidity) using serum and PCR using buffy coat were performed on samples from 54 individuals in each of the following groups: patients diagnosed with depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, as well as psychiatrically healthy subjects (control group). They were recruited from the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia in Kelantan, Malaysia. Of 54 patients with depressive disorder, 24/54 (44.4%) were seropositive for IgG, and four (16.7%) were IgG+/IgM+. Among the latter, a high avidity index indicating a past infection was observed in half of the samples (50.0%), and the other half (50.0%) showed a low avidity index, indicating a possible recent infection. Meanwhile, 30/54 (55.6%) patients with bipolar disorder were seropositive for IgG+, five (16.7%) were IgG+/IgM+, and four of them had a high avidity index, and one had a low avidity index. Patients with schizophrenia showed 29/54 (53.7%) seropositive for IgG, two of them (6.9%) were IgG+/IgM+; one of latter had a high avidity index, and one had a low avidity index. Of 54 people in the control group, 37.0% (20/54) were seropositive for T. gondii IgG antibodies. However, no significant difference was obs...
Source: Acta Tropica - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Source Type: research