Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Aggression in Autistic Children.

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by the obligatory intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The main aim of this study was to evaluate a possible relationship between aggression in autistic children with infection by T. gondii. The research design was an analytical (comparative) cross sectional study. The participants included (N = 100) subjects (50 autistic and 50 normal children) between 3 and 12 years old. They were matched for age, socioeconomic status, lack of physical and mental illness. The instruments were preschool aggression scale and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay procedure to essay the blood sample test. Five milliliters of blood samples were collected to assess the presence of T. gondii infection. The results showed that autistic children had a higher rate of infection by T. gondii than normal children. Furthermore, children infected with T. gondii were more aggressive than the noninfected group. In autistic children, T. gondii infection was significantly higher than in the normal group. Also, autistic children who were infected with the parasite were more aggressive.