Seroepidemiological Study of Toxoplasma gondii Infection among Psychiatric Patients in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran
Abdollahian، Ebrahim نويسنده , , Shafiei، Reza نويسنده Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IR Iran , , MOKHBER، Naghmeh نويسنده Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran MOKHBER, Naghmeh , KALANTAR، Kurosh نويسنده Dept. of Immunology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran KALANTAR, Kurosh , Fata، Abdolmajid نويسنده ,
Background: Psychiatric patients have an increased risk of some infections like toxoplasmosis. Investigations on Toxoplasma gondii infection among psychiatric patients have been limited in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran. In this case-control study, prevalence of T. gondii was investigated by serological method.
Methods: This case-control study was performed among psychiatric patients admitted to Avicenna Hospital in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran. Three hundred and fifty inpatients and 350 controls were examined in 2012-2013 for detection of IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii in their blood sera by ELISA. Socio-demographic and clinical manifestations of the patients were obtained.
Results: Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies was found in 164 (46.85%) of 350 psychiatric inpatients and 120 (34.28%) of 350 controls. Seventeen (4.85%) of psychiatric individuals and 3 (0.85%) of control group were IgM+/IgG- indicating acute form of toxoplasmosis. There were no statistically significant differences between the case and control groups. In patient group, schizophrenic patients had the highest positive rate (46.28%) and bipolar mood disorder had the second most prevalent rate (20%). Of 162 schizophrenia patients, 65 (40.1%) had latent infection which was higher than that observed in controls.
Conclusion: The prevalence of T. gondii infection among psychiatric patients suffering from schizophrenia was more in Mashhad, compared with control group.