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Toxoplasma gondii & Human Phenotype

Compendium of Known Effects and Ongoing Research

nhanes

Is Toxoplasma gondii infection correlated with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease?- a population-based study

February 12, 2018
Huang, J. F. , Zhang, H. Y., Liu, S. Y. ,Wang, M. F. .Wan, B. , Velani, B. ., Zhu , Y. Y., Lin, S.
BMC Infectious Diseases 2018; 18: DOI: 10.1186/s12879-018-3547-1
Click for abstract
BackgroundPrevious studies have suggested that Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection might be associated with fatty liver disease. However, the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and T. gondii infection has not been investigated in a large population. We aimed to study the relationship between those two diseases using a population-based dataset from the United States.MethodsThe data were collected from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) between 1988 and 1994. Statistical analysis was applied to compare the prevalence of NAFLD in anti-T. gondii antibody-positive participants with antibody-negative ones.ResultsA total of 9465 persons with a mean age of 44.3316.21years, 46.9% of which were males, were included in the final analysis. Their mean BMI was 27.60 +/- 5.96kg/m(2). A total of 2520 participants (26.62%) were positive for the T. gondii antibody. There was an increasing trend of seroprevalence of T. gondii with age (P for trend <0.001). The incidence of NAFLD in the seropositive group was higher than that in the seronegative group (27.10% vs 23.40%, p<0.001). In addition to this, metabolic biomarkers, including serum lipid, fasting blood-glucose, and uric acid were also significantly higher in the seropositive group. However, multivariate analysis revealed that T. gondii infection was not an independent risk factor for NAFLD. Age was independently correlated with both the prevalence of T. gondii and NAFLD.Conclusions Patients with T. gondii infection may have a higher prevalence of NAFLD. Age may have an effect on the increase of NAFLD in the T. gondii seropositive population.

Tagged: association, nhanes, non-alcoholic fatty liver, Schizophrenia, Toxoplasma gondii, united-states

Physical health

No association between current depression and latent toxoplasmosis in adults

October 6, 2016 15 Comments
Gale, S. D., Berrett, A. N., Brown, B., Erickson, L. D., Hedges, D. W.
Folia Parasitologica 2016; 63: DOI 10.14411/fp.2016.032
Click for abstract
Changes in behaviour and cognition have been associated with latent infection from the apicomplexan protozoan Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) in both animal and human studies. Further, neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia have also been associated with latent toxoplasmosis. Previously, we found no association between T. gondii immunoglobulin G antibody (IgG) seropositivity and depression in human adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years (n = 1 846) in a sample representative of the United States collected by the Centers for Disease Control as part of a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from three datasets collected between 1999-2004. In the present study, we used NHANES data collected between 2009 and 2012 that included subjects aged 20 to 80 years (n = 5 487) and used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) to assess depression with the overall aim of testing the stability of the results of the prior study. In the current study, the seroprevalence of T. gondii was 13%. The percentage of subjects reporting clinical levels of depression assessed with the PHQ-9 was 8%. As before, we found no association between T. gondii IgG seroprevalence and depression (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.81-1.25; p = 0.944) while controlling for sex, educational attainment, race-ethnicity, age, poverty-to-income ratio and cigarette smoking. We also found no positive associations between anti-T. gondii antibody titre and depression (OR = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.96-1.06; p = 0.868). Moreover, we found no association between T. gondii seroprevalence or antibody titre and suicidal ideation (seroprevalence: OR = 1.22, 95% CI =.85-1.75; p = 0.277, titre: OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.98-1.14; p = 0.177). Defining depression to also include subjects currently taking antidepressant medication even with non-elevated questionnaires did not find evidence of a positive association between latent toxoplasmosis and depression. In the present study, neither T. gondii seroprevalence nor anti-T. gondii antibody titre was positively associated with depression or suicidal ideation among subjects aged 20 to 80 years.

Tagged: antibody-titers, gondii, history, infection, major depressive disorder, metaanalysis, mood disorders, nhanes, Schizophrenia, suicide attempts, Toxoplasma gondii, women

Mental health

Infectious disease burden and cognitive function in young to middle-aged adults

January 4, 2016
Gale, S. D., Erickson, L. D., Berrett, A., Brown, B. L., Hedges, D. W.
Brain Behavior and Immunity 2016, 52: 161-168
Click for abstract
Prior research has suggested an association between exposure to infectious disease and neurocognitive function in humans. While most of these studies have explored individual viral, bacterial, and even parasitic sources of infection, few have considered the potential neurocognitive burden associated with multiple infections. In this study, we utilized publically available data from a large dataset produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that included measures of neurocognitive function, sociodemographic variables, and serum antibody data for several infectious diseases. Specifically, immunoglobulin G antibodies for toxocariasis, toxoplasmosis, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, cytomegalovirus, and herpes 1 and 2 were available in 5662 subjects. We calculated an overall index of infectious-disease burden to determine if an aggregate measure of exposure to infectious disease would be associated with neurocognitive function in adults aged 20-59 years. The index predicted processing speed and learning and memory but not reaction time after controlling for age, sex, race-ethnicity, immigration status, education, and the poverty-to-income ratio. Interactions between the infectious-disease index and some sociodemographic variables were also associated with neurocognitive function. In summary, an index aggregating exposure to several infectious diseases was associated with neurocognitive function in young- to middle-aged adults. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tagged: 3rd national-health, chronic hepatitis-c, cytomegalovirus, cytomegalovirus-infection, hepatitis, herpes, infectious disease, latent toxoplasmosis, neurocognitive function, nhanes, northern-manhattan, nutrition examination survey, risk factors, simplex-virus type-1, toxocariasis, toxoplasma gondii infection, toxoplasmosis, united-states

Cognitive functions

Topics

  • Behavior 105
  • Cognitive functions 64
  • Mental health 439
  • Morphology 6
  • Motor functions 10
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  • Physical health 134
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  • Sensory functions 3
  • Uncategorized 2

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Recent articles

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  • The Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis February 6, 2020

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