Major depression

The association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and postpartum blues

February 4, 2020
Gao, J. M., He, Z. H., Xie, Y. T., Hide, G., Lai, D. H., Lun, Z. R.
Journal of Affective Disorder 2019, 250: 404 - 409 schizophrenia prevalence

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Introduction and Aim: Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite infecting approximately 30% of the global human population. It has often been suggested that chronic infection with T. gondii is related to personality changes and various mental disorders including depression. It is not known whether this includes post-partum blues or depression. In this study, we test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between T. gondii infection and post-partum blues by measuring the association between infection and postpartum blues. Methods: A total of 475 Chinese women who have just given birth were detected serology for Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies, and evaluated the degree of depression by Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score. Data were analyzed by Chi-square or Fisher's Exact tests using SPSS software. Results: We found an overall Toxoplasma seroprevalence of 5.68% (27/475; 95% CI: 3.59-7.77) which was broken down into a prevalence of 6.60% (7/106; 95% CI: 1.80-11.41) in mothers with post-partum blues and 5.42% (20/369; 95% CI: 3.10-7.74) in non-affected mothers. There was no significant association between infection and post-partum blues (p= 0.64). Conclusion: The results suggest that there is no relationship between T. gondii infection and postpartum blues, at least in this sample of patients from China

Tagged: antibody-titers, attempts, comon mental-disorders, Hamilton depression scale, Major depression, maternal depression, newborn, postpartum blues, pregnant women, puerpera, seroprevalence, social support, suicide, Toxoplasma gondii

Behavior Mental health Personality

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders and symptoms

August 31, 2018

Schizophrenia Research 2018; 197: 603-604

Tagged: autism, etiology, gondii, incidence, infection hypothesis, Major depression, ocd, risk factors, Schizophrenia

Mental health

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders and symptoms MENTAL

February 12, 2018
Flegr, J., Horáček, J.
Schizophrenia Research 2018; 197: 603-604

Tagged: autism, etiology, gondii, infection hypothesis, Major depression, ncidence, ocd, risk factors, Schizophrenia

Mental health

Cat scratches, not bites, are associated with unipolar depression – cross-sectional study

September 27, 2016
Flegr,J., Hodný, Z.
Parasites & Vectors 2016:8 doi:10.1186/s13071-015-1290-7, 2016

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Background: A recent study performed on 1.3 million patients showed a strong association between being bitten by a cat and probability of being diagnosed with depression. Authors suggested that infection with cat parasite Toxoplasma could be the reason for this association. Method: A cross sectional internet study on a non-clinical population of 5,535 subjects was undertaken. Results: The subjects that reported having been bitten by a dog and a cat or scratched by a cat have higher Beck depression score. They were more likely to have visited psychiatrists, psychotherapists and neurologists in past two years, to have been previously diagnosed with depression (but not with bipolar disorder). Multivariate analysis of models with cat biting, cat scratching, toxoplasmosis, the number of cats at home, and the age of subjects as independent variables showed that only cat scr atching had positive effect on depression ( p = 0.004). Cat biting and toxoplasmosis had no effect on the depression, and the number of cats at home had a negative effect on depression ( p = 0.021). Conclusions: Absence of association between toxoplasmosis and depression and five times stronger association of depression with cat scratching than with cat biting suggests that the pathogen responsible for mood disorders in animals-injured subjects is probably not the protozoon Toxoplasma gondii but another organism; possibly the agent of cat-scratched disease – the bacteria Bartonella henselae .

Tagged: Bartonelosis, Injury, Major depression, Parasite, toxoplasmosis, Unipolar depression

Mental health

Cognitive deterioration among bipolar disorder patients infected by Toxoplasma gondii is correlated to interleukin 6 levels

October 6, 2015
Hamdani, N., Daban-Huard, C., Lajnef, M., Gadel, R., Le Corvoisier, P., Delavest, M., Carde, S., Lepine, J. P., Jamain, S., Houenou, J., Galeh, B., Richard, J. R., Aoki, M., Charron, D., Krishnamoorthy, R., Yolken, R., Dickerson, F., Tamouza, R., Leboyer, M.
Journal of Affective Disorders 2015; 179: 161-166

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Background: Cognitive deficits are present in a large majority of Bipolar Disorder (BD) patients and known to be a marker of bad prognosis. Because, these deficits encompass several domains and no specific medical treatment seems to be effective, it is important to better understand the mechanisms underlying cognitive deterioration. As Toxoplasma gondii is known to induce the synthesis of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6, we will explore here the possible role of T. gondii in the cognitive decline observed in BD. Methods: 42 euthymic BD patients and 36 controls were assessed for episodic verbal memory using the CVLT and for working memory and verbal ability using the WAIS Ill. Patients and controls were also screened for seropositivity to I gondii and evaluated for the levels of IL-fl transcripts. Results: The seropositivity for I gondii was significantly higher in BD patients as compared to controls (p-0.005). The cognitive deterioration index (Dl) was higher in BD patients (p=5.10 ') and correlated to high IL-6 mRNA expression only among those infected by T gondii (rho-0.43, p-0.01). Among deteriorated patients (defined by scores above 0.10 according to Weschler's definition), the IL-6 mRNA expression was twice greater (p=0.01). Limitations: Our results are to be interpreted with caution because of our small sample size and the cross-sectional design. Conclusions: A long-term exposure to inflammation, measured here with IL-6 mRNA expression in T. gonciii infected BD may alter cognitive functioning. IL-6 could thus be a useful predictive marker of cognitive deterioration in BD and may help to design personalized treatment.

Tagged: antibodies, association, bipolar disorder, cognitive deterioration, exposure, il-6, impairment, individuals, Major depression, risk, Schizophrenia, simplex-virus type-1, t. gondii, traffic accidents

Cognitive functions Mental health

The relationship between Toxoplasma gondii infection and mood disorders in the third national health and nutrition survey

October 12, 2012
Pearce, B.D., Kruszon-Moran, D., Jones, J.L.
Biological Psychiatry 2012; 72: 290-295

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Background: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a neurotropic protozoan parasite that causes persistent infection in humans. A substantial literature suggests that schizophrenia is associated with increased seroprevalence of T. gondii, but a possible link of the parasite with mood disorders has not been as thoroughly investigated. Methods: We examined the association of Toxoplasma-specific immunoglobulin G results with mood disorder outcomes in 7440 respondents from the third National Health and Nutrition Survey, which is a nationally representative sample of the United States noninstitutionalized civilian population. Regression models were adjusted for numerous potential confounders, including tobacco smoking and C-reactive protein levels. Results: No statistically significant associations were found between T. gondii seroprevalence and a history of major depression (n = 574; adjusted odds ratio [OR]:.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]:.5-1.2), severe major depression (n = 515; adjusted OR:.8; 95% CI:.6-1.2), dysthymia (n = 548; adjusted OR: 1.1; 95% CI:.7-1.8), or dysthymia with comorbid major depression (n = 242, adjusted OR: 1.2; 95% CI:.6-2.4), all p values were > .05, including analysis stratified by gender. However, there was a significant relationship between T. gondii seroprevalence and bipolar disorder type I for respondents in which both manic and major depression symptoms were reported (n = 41; adjusted OR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.2-4.8; p < .05). Conclusions: In a population-based sample, T. gondii seroprevalence is not elevated in unipolar mood disorders but is higher in a subset of respondents with a history of bipolar disorder type 1.

Tagged: 1st-episode, bipolar disorder, brain, c-reactive protein, depression, dysthymia, host behavior, individuals, Major depression, neuroimmunology, Schizophrenia, seroprevalence, skeletal-muscle, Toxoplasma

Mental health

The diagnosis of a personality disorder increases the likelihood for seropositivity to Toxoplasma gondii in psychiatric patients

October 19, 2010
Hinze-Selch, D., Daubener, W., Erdag, S., Wilms, S.
Folia Parasitol (Praha) 2010; 57: 129-135

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Individuals serologically positive for the chronic infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii (TG) display certain personality traits differently from uninfected individuals. Experimental data in mice demonstrate that TG infection modulates behaviour. However, psychiatric patients with a personality disorder have not yet been investigated systematically. In our sample containing 896 psychiatric inpatients with the primary diagnoses of schizophrenia, major depression, schizoaffective or bipolar disorder and 214 psychiatrically unaffected controls (same geographic region, sampled during same time period) we analysed for effects of the additional diagnosis of a personality disorder in the patients. Psychiatrically, a patient can meet the criteria of a personality disorder additionally to any of the mentioned primary diagnoses. We applied logistic regression and cross-table statistics, separated groups by the presence/absence of a personality disorder (ICD-10) and adjusted for age between groups. We found that among all patients the additional diagnosis of a personality disorder was significantly associated with TG infection. Furthermore, only in the patients with an additional personality disorder medium titre responses (1:16-1:64) were associated with chronic course and high C-reactive protein (CRP) levels whereas high titre response (>1:64) was associated with a more acute recurrent clinical course. In the older individuals only there was a preponderance of medium titre responses (1:16-1:64) among the patients with personality disorder compared to those without and controls. We conclude that TG infection and the host's response to it make a difference for the diagnosis of a personality disorder. Our data support that TG infection can modulate human behaviour and personality traits.

Tagged: 3-dioxygenase, activation, association, astrocytes, cells, individuals, indoleamine 2, infection, Major depression, nitric-oxide synthase, personality-disorder, Schizophrenia, serology, Toxoplasma gondii, tryptophan depletion

Behavior Mental health

Toxoplasma gondii & Human Phenotype

Compendium of Known Effects and Ongoing Research

Major depression

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders and symptoms

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders and symptoms MENTAL

Cat scratches, not bites, are associated with unipolar depression – cross-sectional study

Cognitive deterioration among bipolar disorder patients infected by Toxoplasma gondii is correlated to interleukin 6 levels

The relationship between Toxoplasma gondii infection and mood disorders in the third national health and nutrition survey

The diagnosis of a personality disorder increases the likelihood for seropositivity to Toxoplasma gondii in psychiatric patients