Impact of latent toxoplasmosis on thyroid diseases during gestation

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is among the most widely diseases that distributed by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. So in the case of pregnancy, latent toxoplasmosis is a risk factor which causes thyroid disease. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of latent toxoplasmosis on thyroid diseases during gestation. 214 blood samples were collected from pregnant women who admitted to different hospitals in Erbil governorate. ELISA technique was used for detecting Toxoplasma IgG antibody, as well as determining serum levels of thyroid hormone levels. Overall, 23.37% of tested samples were Toxoplasma gondii IgG seropositive. Latent toxoplasmosis has a positive correlation with thyroxin (T4) (p=0.026), however, no significant correlation was found with both thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and triiodothyronine (T3) (p>0.05). No significant differences were found between Toxoplasma IgG seropositive and seronegative groups as related to trimester, age, city, place, blood group, occupation, food habit, animal contact, disease, and vitamin D level, except the characteristic of abortion, which was significant at a p=0.042. In conclusion, latent toxoplasmosis had significant impact on the occurrence of T4 secretion during gestation. Whereas, TSH and T3 had no significant association with latent toxoplasmosis. Increasing the awareness of toxoplasmosis among pregnant women is required to avoid their deleterious effects, which has a notable impact on lowering the rate of abortion caused by this parasite.