Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infections among patients with autoimmune diseases

Abstract

To understand the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infections among patients with autoimmune diseases, so as to provide the scientific evidence for the management of toxoplasmosis in patients with autoimmune diseases. A total of 237 patients with definitive diagnosis of autoimmune disease were selected as the study subjects, including 79 cases with systemic lupus erythematosus, 71 cases with rheumatoid arthritis and 87 cases with inflammatory bowel disease, while 237 healthy volunteers served as controls. The serum anti-T. gondii IgG antibody was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in patients with autoimmune diseases and healthy controls, and the detection of serum IgG antibody against T. gondii was compared between the autoimmune disease patients and healthy controls. The seroprevalence of serum IgG antibody against T. gondii was significantly greater in patients with autoimmune diseases than in healthy controls (29.96% vs. 4.22%; χ2 = 55.41, P < 0.01), and the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was all significantly higher in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (31.65%), rheumatoid arthritis (23.94%) and inflammatory bowel disease (33.33%) than in healthy controls (χ2 = 45.25, 26.58 and 50.95; all P values < 0.01). The seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG antibody is significantly higher in patients with autoimmune diseases than in healthy controls, and T. gondii infection may be a potential risk factor for the development of systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.