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. 2020 Dec 31:11:100197.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2020.100197. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity in patients with depressive and anxiety disorders

Nienke J de Bles  1 , Juliette E H van der Does  1 , Laetitia M Kortbeek  2 , Agnetha Hofhuis  2 , Gerard van Grootheest  3 , Albert M Vollaard  2 , Robert A Schoevers  4 , Albert M van Hemert  1 , Brenda W J H Penninx  3 , Nathaly Rius-Ottenheim  1 , Erik J Giltay  1
Affiliations

Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity in patients with depressive and anxiety disorders

Nienke J de Bles et al. Brain Behav Immun Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular parasite that is estimated to be carried by one-third of the world population. Latent T. gondii infection has been linked to several neuropsychiatric mood disorders and behaviors. The aim of the present study was to examine whether T. gondii seropositivity is associated with affective disorders, as well as with aggression reactivity and suicidal thoughts.

Methods: In the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), T. gondii antibodies were assessed in patients with current depressive (n ​= ​133), anxiety (n ​= ​188), comorbid depressive and anxiety (n ​= ​148), and remitted disorders (n ​= ​889), as well as in healthy controls (n ​= ​373) based on DSM-IV criteria. Seropositivity was analyzed in relation to disorder status, aggression reactivity and suicidal thoughts using multivariate analyses of covariance and regression analyses.

Results: Participants were on average 51.2 years (SD ​= ​13.2), and 64.4% were female. Seropositivity was found in 673 participants (38.9%). A strong positive association between T. gondii seropositivity and age was observed. No significant associations were found between T. gondii seropositivity and disorder status, aggression reactivity and suicidal thoughts. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for any remitted disorder versus controls was 1.13 (95% CI: 0.87-1.49), and for any current disorder versus controls was 0.94 (95% CI: 0.69-1.28).

Conclusions: No evidence was found for a relationship between affective disorders and T. gondii infection in the current sample.

Keywords: Anxiety; Cognitive reactivity; Depression; Suicidality; Toxoplasma gondii.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Characteristics of the study sample (N ​= ​1731) according T. gondii seropositivity and the adjusted odds ratios for all independent variables in one multivariable logistic regression model. Note. BMI = Body Mass Index; Chi-square values have been computed for categorical variables, ANOVA for interval variables; Education in years and BMI were studied per 5 units (i.e., 5 ​kg/m2) increase.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The (adjusted) odds ratios of seropositivity for depressive and anxiety disorders. Model 1 adjusted for sex, age, level of education, North European ancestry, BMI, and clinical site location with healthy controls taken as the reference group. Model 2 adjusted for the beforementioned sociodemographic variables, healthy controls, remitted depression and/or anxiety, and current dysthymia, MDD, SP, PD, AP, and GAD.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean differences (with standard errors in parentheses) between IgG seronegative and seropositive subjects on symptom severity measures (i.e., IDS-SR, BAI, FQ, and PSWQ), aggression reactivity and suicidal thoughts. Adjusted for sex, age, level of education, North European ancestry, BMI, and clinical site location. Note: IDS-SR = Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology – self-report; BAI = Beck Anxiety Inventory; FQ = Fear Questionnaire; PSWQ = Penn State Worry Questionnaire; LEIDS-R ​= ​Leiden Index of Depression Sensitivity – Revised.
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