Toxoplasmosis and Female Infertility: Is there a Co-Relation?

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite that is estimated to infect one-third of the world’s human population causing a wide range spectrum of diseases. Reports on the prevalence of T. gondii infection among infertile females are scarce. This case-control study aimed to screen the infertile females and pregnant controls for Toxoplasma infection investigating a possible association with infertility. A total of 319 female infertility ladies and 103 pregnant controls were examined for the pres-ence of IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Ages in infertile ladies (26.8 years ± 4.7) was comparable with that of the controls (26 years ± 5.3), (p > 0.05). The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii in this study was 57.52%. Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies indicating latent infection with T. gondii was found in 193 (61.85%) of 312 infertile ladies and 44 (44%) of 100 controls. There was a highly significant difference between the 2 groups (p = 0.002). Our results found an association between toxoplasmosis and infertility. This finding encourage both prompting health education to prevent Toxoplasma infection in female population especially in childbearing age and further investigation to elucidate the causative relation between T. gondii infection and female infertility.