Influence of latent "asymptomatic" toxoplasmosis on body weight of pregnant women

Abstract

Abstract. The latent toxoplasmosis is usually considered to be asymptomatic, however, this paradigm has never been rigorously tested. Here we searched for symptoms of deterioration of physical health (decrease of weight) in infected people by analysis of clinical records of 758 women tested for toxoplasmosis in the 16th week of gravidity. Toxoplasma-positive women have a lower body weight in the 16th week of gravidity (p = 0.02) than Toxoplasma-negative women. Moreover, a negative correlation between weight and the duration of toxoplasmosis was found in a subset of 174 Toxoplasma-positive women (p = 0.04), suggesting that slow and cumulative effects of latent toxoplasmosis, rather than a transient effect of acute toxoplasmosis, are responsible for the decreased weight of infected subjects. Longer duration of gravidity estimated from the date of last menstruation in the set of Toxoplasma-positive women in the 16th week of gravidity estimated with ultrasonography (p = 0.04) suggests a possibility of retarded foetal growth in Toxoplasma-positive women. The prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis is extremely high. Therefore, even its mild symptoms such as the decreased body weight in Toxoplasma-positive pregnant women might in fact indicate an unrecognized serious public health problem.

Influence of latent toxoplasmosis on the phenotype of intermediate hosts

“…First of all, I miss some study or a review concerning the effects of T. gondii on the reproduction of humans and mice. the effect of latent toxoplasmosis on the embryonic growth rate was reported about five years ago (Flegr et al 2005a) and was confirmed by another large-scale study two years later (Kaňková and Flegr 2007). Similarly, an increased probability of male offspring in both humans (Kaňková et al 2007a) and mice (Kaňková et al 2007b) is a potentially important phenomenon that could and should be easily studied using the already available data from any obstetrical or gynaecological service.…”

Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Consequences of Chronic Toxoplasma Infection

“…If the studied disorder needs a long time to fully develop, then false-negative subjects could have the highest incidence of the disorder and the case-control study could wrongly provide a false-negative instead of a positive association between toxoplasmosis and the disorder. This paradoxical effect of toxoplasmosis was already shown to exist [92] and could possibly explain an observed negative association between toxoplasmosis and multiple sclerosis [93].…”

“…However, the level of anamnestic antibodies irregularly decreases as time passes from the moment of infection [91]. On the basis of the results of randomization tests, it was estimated that about 5-10 % of false-negative subjects occur in populations of birth-giving age women that had been diagnosed by two independent serological methods (IgG ELISA and complement fixation reaction) in the National Reference Laboratory [92]. In higher age strata, the number of seemingly Toxoplasma-free but actually Toxoplasma-infected subjects is probably higher.…”

Assessment of Testosterone Hormone Level in Patients with Toxoplasmosis Attending Omdurman Military Hospital

“…The most dangerous is congenital toxoplasmosis, which often results in serious damages to fetus and development of various symptoms like micro-cephalic, hydro-cephalic and mental problems in infants [8]. The Second form is acute postnatal acquired toxoplasmosis.…”

“…But symptoms of acute toxoplasmosis are usually mild and harmless. Accordingly, toxoplasmosis is usually misdiagnosed with bacterial or viral diseases [8].…”