childhood

Prenatal toxoplasmosis antibody and childhood autism

October 2, 2017 10 Comments
Spann, M. N., Sourander, A., Surcel, H. M., Hinkka-Yli-Salomaki, S., Brown, A. S.
Autism Research 2017; 10: 769-777

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here is evidence that some maternal infections during the prenatal period are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as childhood autism. However, the association between autism and Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), an intracellular parasite, remains unclear. The authors examined whether serologically confirmed maternal antibodies to T. gondii are associated with odds of childhood autism in offspring. The study is based on a nested case-control design of a large national birth cohort (N=1.2 million) and the national psychiatric registries in Finland. There were 874 cases of childhood autism and controls matched 1: 1 on date of birth, sex, birthplace and residence in Finland. Maternal sera were prospectively assayed from a national biobank for T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies; IgG avidity analyses were also performed. High maternal T. gondii IgM antibody was associated with a significantly decreased odds of childhood autism. Low maternal T. gondii IgG antibody was associated with increased offspring odds of autism. In women with high T. gondii IgM antibodies, the IgG avidity was high for both cases and controls, with the exception of three controls. The findings suggest that the relationship between maternal T. gondii antibodies and odds of childhood autism may be related to the immune response to this pathogen or the overall activation of the immune system.

Tagged: antibody, autism, avidity, c-reactive protein, childhood, congenital toxoplasmosis, gondii, igg, infection, latent toxoplasmosis, rheumatoid-arthritis, risk, spectrum disorder, toxoplasmosis

Mental health

Toxoplasma gondii infection in schizophrenia and associated clinical features

October 6, 2016 13 Comments
Esshili, A., Thabet, S., Jemli, A., Trifa, F., Mechri, A., Zaafrane, F., Gaha, L., Juckel, G., Babba, H., Jrad, B. B. H.
Psychiatry Research 2016; 245: 327-332

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The belief that latent toxoplasmosis is asymptomatic has been questioned, in particular due to the repeated highlighted link between the Toxoplasma gondii infection and an increased incidence of schizophrenia. However, to understand this relationship, the effect of infection with Toxoplasma gondii on the severity of schizophrenia has been poorly studied. Our work focused on comparing the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection between schizophrenic patients and healthy controls, as well as comparing the clinical features and the demographic characteristics between Toxoplasma-seronegative and Toxoplasma-seropositive patients with schizophrenia. The rate of IgG antibody in the schizophrenia patients was 74.8% compared 53.8% in controls. Patients with schizophrenia had a significantly higher mean of serum IgG antibodies to T. gondii compared to controls. The seropositive male patients had a higher age of disease onset, a higher BPRS score, a greater negative PANSS score and a lower GAF score than the seronegative male patients. These results suggest a higher severity of clinical symptoms in the male patients with schizophrenia. This study provides further evidence to the hypothesis that exposure to Toxoplasma may be a risk factor for schizophrenia. Moreover, toxoplasmosis in men with schizophrenia may lead to more severe negative and cognitive symptoms and a less favorable course of schizophrenia.

Tagged: adult, bipolar disorder, bprs, childhood, gaf, gender differences, male gender, metaanalysis, nervous-system infection, onset of schizophrenia, onset schizophrenia, risk, s congenital toxoplasmosis, sans, Schizophrenia, serum igg, sex-differences, Toxoplasma gondii

Mental health

Maternal infection during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

January 4, 2016
Jiang, H. Y., Xu, L. L., Shao, L., Xia, R. M., Yu, Z. H., Ling, Z. X., Yang, F., Deng, M., Ruan, B.
Brain Behavior and Immunity 2016; 58: 165-172

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Conflicting evidence exists with regard to the relationship between maternal infection during pregnancy and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring. The aim of this meta-analysis was to systematically assess this relationship. To identify relevant studies, we conducted systematic searches in PubMed and Embase of scientific articles published through March 2016. Random-effects models were adopted to estimate overall relative risk. A total of 15 studies (2 cohort and 13 case-control studies) involving more than 40,000 ASD cases were included in our meta-analysis. Our results showed that maternal infection during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of ASD in offspring (OR = 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-1.23), particularly among those requiring hospitalization (OR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.14-1.50). Subgroup analyses suggested that risk may be modulated by the type of infectious agent, time of infectious exposure, and site of infection. These findings indicate that maternal infection during pregnancy increases the risk of ASD in offspring. Possible mechanisms may include direct effects of pathogens and, more indirectly, the effects of inflammatory responses on the developing brain. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tagged: autism, brain-development, childhood, children, cytokines, Epidemiology, exposure, hospitalization, immune activation, infectious, prenatal, prenatal infection, prevalence, viral-infection

Mental health

The association of infectious agents and schizophrenia

October 19, 2010
Krause, D., Matz, J., Weidinger, E., Wagner, J., Wildenauer, A., Obermeier, M., Riedel, M., Muller, N.
World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 2010; 11: 739-743

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Objectives. The influence of infectious agents on the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders has been discussed for decades. Pre- and postnatal infections are risk factors for schizophrenia. This may be explained by chronic infections or an altered immune status. However most of the studies have only focused on one single pathogen and not on the impact of different infectious agents. We investigated the association between schizophrenia and various neurotophic infectious agents. Methods. A total of 31 schizophrenic patients and 30 healthy matched individuals were included. Antibody titres of cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus, Epstein-Barr virus, mycoplasma, chlamydia and toxoplasma were evaluated. For statistical analysis we used Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon test. Results. Significantly elevated positive antibody titres within schizophrenic patients were found only for Chlamydia trachomatis (P=0.005) and a trend to significance for herpes simplex virus (P=0.055). Combining the different agents, schizophrenics had a significantly higher rate of positive titres to infectious agents as compared to controls (P=0.04). Conclusions. The higher prevalence of antibodies within schizophrenic patients emphasizes a possible role of infectious agents in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Our data indicates that not one specific agent might be responsible for schizophrenic symptoms but the resulting immune response in the central nervous system.

Tagged: antibodies, childhood, chlamydia, etiology, herpes-simplex, immune system, individuals, infection, influenza, maternal exposure, psychosis, risk, Schizophrenia, virus

Mental health

Tumours of the brain and presence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii

November 7, 1993
Ryan, P., Hurley, S. F., Johnson, A. M., Salzberg, M., Lee, M. W., North, J. B., Mcneil, J. J., Mcmichael, A. J.
International Journal of Epidemiology 1993; 22: 412-419

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The possible association between prior infection with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii and development of brain tumours was investigated as part of two Australian population-based case-control studies of adult brain tumours. One study, based in Adelaide, South Australia, collected blood from 73 subjects with glioma, 53 subjects with meningioma and 348 controls. The other study, based in Melbourne, Victoria, collected blood from 44 subjects with glioma and 67 controls. All tumours had been verified histologically. IgG antibodies to T. gondii were measured using Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) techniques. In both the centre-specific and combined analyses, there was no difference between subjects with glioma and controls in the prevalence of antibody test-positivity (35% test-positive in glioma versus 33% in controls, age-, sex- and centre-adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.00, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.64-1.56). In the Adelaide study, there was a statistically significant increased risk of meningioma associated with antibody test-positivity (47% test-positive in meningioma versus 31% in controls, P = 0.02, adjusted OR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.14-3.83). Our results do not support the hypothesis that antibody positivity to T. gondii is a risk factor for glioma, but suggest that it might be associated with meningioma.

Tagged: childhood, diagnosis, immunosorbent-assay elisa, los-angeles county, meningiomas, nervous system, risk factors, tests, tumors

Physical health

Toxoplasma gondii & Human Phenotype

Compendium of Known Effects and Ongoing Research

childhood

Prenatal toxoplasmosis antibody and childhood autism

Toxoplasma gondii infection in schizophrenia and associated clinical features

Maternal infection during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The association of infectious agents and schizophrenia

Tumours of the brain and presence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii