Toxoplasma Gondii Serointensity and Seropositivity and Their Heritability and Household-Related Associations in the Old Order Amish

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular parasite, infecting one-third of the world ’s population. Exposure via food and non-food related factors (i.e., contact with cat feces) is required for infection, however, host genetic factors may play a role in susceptibility. Latent T. gondii infection has been consistently associated with mental illness, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, suicidal behavior and its endophenotypes impulsivity and aggression, and less consistently associated with depression.

Source: Biological Psychiatry - April 29, 2017 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Allyson Duffy, Jeffrey O ׳Connell, Mary Pavlovich, Maureen Groer, Xiaoqing Peng, Kathy Ryan, Gursharon Nijjar, Xuemei Huang, Aline Dagdag, Sonia Postolache, John W Stiller, Christopher A. Lowry, Alan Shuldiner, Toni I Pollin, Braxton Mitchell, Teodor T P Source Type: research