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Toxoplasma gondii & Human Phenotype

Compendium of Known Effects and Ongoing Research

attempted

The association between immune markers and recent suicide attempts in patients with serious mental illness: A pilot study

March 23, 2017
Dickerson, F., Adamos, M., Katsafanas, E., Khushalani, S., Origoni, A., Savage, C., Schweinfurth, L., Stallings, C., Sweeney, K., Alaedini, A., Uhde, M., Severance, E., Wilcox, H. C., Yolken, R.
Psychiatry Research 2017;255:8-12
Click for abstract
Previous studies have identified elevations in markers of gastrointestinal inflammation in schizophrenia and mood disorders but studies have not measured the association between these markers and recent suicide attempts. We assessed 210 patients receiving treatment for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depression. We employed the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale to identify recent and lifetime suicide attempts (actual, aborted, and interrupted). Psychiatric participants and a control group of 72 individuals without a psychiatric disorder had a blood sample drawn from which were measured specific markers of gastrointestinal inflammation and also C-Reactive protein (CRP). A total of 20 (10%) of psychiatric participants had a suicide attempt in the previous one month and 95 (45%) an attempt during their lifetime but not in the previous one month. The recent attempters had significantly elevated levels of antibodies to yeast mannan from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA), the food antigen gliadin, and bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) compared with the non-psychiatric group when adjusting for demographic and clinical variables. These markers were not elevated in individuals with a past, but not recent, suicide attempt history. Our study indicates that there is evidence of gastrointestinal inflammation in some individuals who have had a recent suicide attempt.

Tagged: activation, attempted, biomarkers, bipolar disorder, celiac-disease, gastrointestinal, inflammation, inflammatory-bowel-disease, metaanalysis, psychiatric-disorders, rating-scale, Schizophrenia, sensitivity, suicide, Toxoplasma gondii

Mental health

Toxoplasma gondii antibody titers and history of suicide attempts in patients with recurrent mood disorders

October 30, 2009
Arling, T. A., Yolken, R. H., Lapidus, M., Langenberg, P., Dickerson, F. B., Zimmerman, S. A., Balis, T., Cabassa, J. A., Scrandis, D. A., Tonelli, L. H., Postolache, T. T.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 2009; 3:905-908
Click for abstract
Toxoplasma gondii (T.gondii) is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite infecting one-third of the world population, residing relatively silently in the brain of the immunocompetent host. We hypothesized that T.gondii seropositivity and serointensity are associated with having a history of attempting suicide and, in those attempting suicide, a greater number of attempts. T.gondii seropositivity and antibody titers were compared between (a) patients with recurrent mood disorders with history of suicide attempt (99 individuals) versus (b) patients with recurrent mood disorders without history of suicide attempt (119 individuals), and (c) healthy controls (39 individuals). Diagnosis was made using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Statistical methods included chi square, analysis of variance, and linear and logistic regression analyses. Suicide attempters had higher T.gondii antibody titers than nonsuicide attempters (p = 0.004). The logistic regression analysis revealed a predictive association between titers of anti- T.gondii antibodies and history of suicide attempt with OR = 1.55 (1.14-2.12), p = 0.006. No significant relationship was found between T.gondii seropositivity and suicide attempt status, number of prior suicide attempts, and recurrent mood disorder diagnosis. Although preliminary and bearing replication, this is the first report, to our knowledge, of an association between attempting suicide and T. gondii.

Tagged: adult, antibodies, attempted, Bipolar Disorder/*parasitology Depressive Disorder, Cerebral/immunology/*psychology, female, humans, Major/*parasitology, male, Mood Disorders/*parasitology, protozoan/*blood, sex factors, suicide, Toxoplasma/immunology, toxoplasmosis

BehaviorMental health

Topics

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  • Uncategorized 2

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