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Abstract
IntroductionToxoplasma 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. MethodsIn 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. ResultsParticipants 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). ConclusionsNo evidence was found for a relationship between affective disorders and T. gondii infection in the current sample.
Highlights
Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular parasite that is estimated to be carried by one-third of the world population
This study aimed to examine the link between T. gondii specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and disorder status, aggression reactivity and suicidal thoughts
No significant association was found for T. gondii seropositivity in relation to disorder status
Summary
Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular parasite that is estimated to be carried by one-third of the world population. 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. No significant associations were found between T. gondii seropositivity and disorder status, aggression reactivity and suicidal thoughts. Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular parasite estimated to be carried by one-third of the world’s population, making it one of the most successful human parasites (Halonen and Weiss, 2013; Montoya and Liesenfeld, 2004) It can infect mammals and many other warm-blooded animals, with cats and other felidae as its definitive hosts for sexual reproduction and the only mammals known to shed T. gondii oocysts with their faeces (Miller et al, 2009). A negative association between diagnoses of depression and T. gondii seropositivity in women was observed in a cross-sectional study of 1486 subjects (Flegr and Escudero, 2016). A systematic review including ten studies with data on major depressive disorder (MDD), found no support for a significant association between T. gondii infection and depression, with an odds ratio (OR) of only 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86-1.70) (Sutterland et al, 2015), which is in line with recent cross-sectional studies on MDD and T. gondii infection (Gale et al, 2014; Markovitz et al, 2015; Sugden, 2016)
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