Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Nov;7(11):e12776.
doi: 10.5812/jjm.12776. Epub 2014 Nov 1.

Toxoplasma gondii Exposure and the Risk of Schizophrenia

Shahram Khademvatan  1 , Jasem Saki  2 , Niloufar Khajeddin  3 , Maryam Izadi-Mazidi  4 , Reza Beladi  3 , Behnaz Shafiee  3 , Zahra Salehi  2
Affiliations

Toxoplasma gondii Exposure and the Risk of Schizophrenia

Shahram Khademvatan et al. Jundishapur J Microbiol. 2014 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder with a deeply destructive pathophysiology. There are evidences to indicate that infectious agents such as Toxoplasma gondii may play some roles in etiology of the disorder.

Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the association between T. gondii exposure and the risk of schizophrenia.

Materials and methods: T. gondii IgG antibodies of 100 patients with schizophrenia as well as 200 healthy volunteers were assessed. The subjects also completed demographic questionnaires. Data was analyzed using the chi-square and Fisher exact tests.

Results: The analyses confirmed the significant differences between healthy women and ones with schizophrenia (P = 0.001) as well as between males and females with schizophrenia (P = 0.009) in IgG positivity.

Conclusions: The present study supported the contamination with T. gondii as a risk factor for schizophrenia just in women.

Keywords: Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Iran; Parasite; Schizophrenia; Toxoplasma gondii; Toxoplasmosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Sadock BJ, Kaplan HI, Sadock VA. Kaplan & Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/clinical Psychiatry. Philadelphia: Wolter Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2007.
    1. Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, Ruiz P, Kaplan HI. Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health; 2009.
    1. Fittipaldi KE. Toxoplasma gondii as an etiological agent of schizophrenia. Hofstra University; 2008.
    1. Freedman R. Schizophrenia. N Engl J Med. 2003;349(18):1738–49. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra035458. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mahmoud SS, Hasan MS. Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among schizophrenic patients. Yemeni J Med Sci. 2009;1(3):1–7.

LinkOut - more resources