Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Consequences of Chronic Toxoplasma Infection

Flegr, Jaroslav

doi:10.1007/s40588-015-0024-0

Cited by 32 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 87 publications

(87 reference statements)

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“…The association between toxoplasmosis and autism has been suggested on the basis of three case-controls studies and also on various indirect evidence, for review see (Flegr and Escudero, 2016;Prandota et al, 2015). The lack of association between toxoplasmosis and major (unipolar) depression and panic disorder is in agreement with most of published data (Flegr, 2015b;Flegr and Hodny, 2016;Gale et al, 2014;Sutterland et al, 2015). As far as we know, the strong association of toxoplasmosis with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and also the relatively strong association with antisocial personality disorder have not been reported.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders: A cross-sectional survey on 46 thousand of subjects

Flegr

Horáček²

2017

Preprint

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Infection by the parasite Toxoplasma, which affects about 33% of world population, is associated with increased risk of several mental health disorders, the most strongly with schizophrenia. It is unknown whether toxoplasmosis really plays a substantial role in the etiopathogenesis of these disorders and whether schizophrenia is associated with this infection the most strongly, or whether this association has just been the most intensively studied for historical reasons. We used the data from 3,440 and 7,800 subjects tested for toxoplasmosis and borreliosis, respectively, who took part in an internet survey, for searching in the associations of these infections with 22 mental health disorders and other indices of impaired mental health. The typical symptom associated with toxoplasmosis was anxiety, and the typical toxoplasmosis-associated disorders were autism (OR=4.86), schizophrenia (OR=3.34), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (OR=3.02), Asperger syndrome (OR=2.49), antisocial personality disorder (OR=1.81), OCD (OR=1.69), and anxiety disorder (OR=1.57). Borreliosis was associated only with symptoms of depression and with major depression (OR=1.65). The negative effects of borreliosis were detectable only in the Toxoplasma-infected subjects. Toxoplasmosis could play a substantial role in the etiopathogenesis of mental health disorders and its association with schizophrenia is the second strongest association, after autism.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

“…Far fewer studies have shown the association of toxoplasmosis with other mental health disorders. About ten studies showed the association of toxoplasmosis with bipolar disorder, and less than five with obsessive compulsive disorder, learning disorder, autism, and anxiety disorder; for reviews see (Flegr, 2015a;Sutterland et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders: A cross-sectional survey on 46 thousand of subjects

Flegr

Horáček²

2017

Preprint

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“…They showed that toxoplasmosis likely strongly increases the risk of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as epilepsy and migraines. For reviews (see Flegr, 2015;Sutterland et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical and Mental Health Status in Toxoplasma-Infected Women before and 3 Years after They Learn about Their Infection: Manipulation or Side-Effects of Impaired Health?

Šebánková

Flegr

2017

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Latent toxoplasmosis is known to be associated with specific changes in animal and human behavior and human personality. Many toxoplasmosis-associated shifts, such as an extroversion-introversion shift or a trust-suspicion shift, go in opposite directions in men and women. The stress coping hypothesis suggests that such behavioral effects of toxoplasmosis are side effects of chronic stress caused by lifelong parasitosis and associated health disorders. Several studies have searched for, and typically found, indices of impaired health in infected subjects. However, subjects were always aware of their toxoplasmosis status, which could influence obtained data and cause false-positive results of the studies. Here we searched for differences in physical and mental health status among 39 Toxoplasma-infected and 40 Toxoplasma-free female university students who completed identical questionnaires (N-70, and anamnestic questionnaire), before and 3 years after they were informed of their toxoplasmosis status. Our results showed that infected women showed indices of poorer health status, not only after, but also before they were informed of their infection. In accordance with previously published data, these indices were more numerous and stronger in Rh-negative than in Rh-positive women. Present results suggest that observed indices of poorer health and symptoms of chronic stress in Toxoplasma-infected subjects are real. Due to its high (30%) prevalence, toxoplasmosis could represent an important factor for public health.

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“…T. gondii seropositivity increases with age, and 41% of older adults in the United States ages 60 to 90 years (median age = 69) may be infected (Mendy, et al, 2015). Further, T. gondii seropositivity appears to be associated with behavioral, cognitive, and neurological abnormalities in humans (Fekadu, et al, 2010, Flegr, 2015). Specifically, Kusbeci et al (2011) found a significantly higher prevalence of T. gondii seropositivity in Alzheimer’s disease compared to non-demented controls, suggesting T. gondii seropositivity may possibly contribute to dementia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity and memory function in nondemented older adults

Wyman

Gale

Hedges-Muncy

et al. 2017

Neurobiology of Aging

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Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) seropositivity may be associated with decreased memory in older adults. To further investigate the association between T. gondii seropositivity and memory in non-demented older adults, we obtained serum samples from 114 non-demented older adults evaluated by the Alzheimer’s Disease and Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis Missouri, USA. We determined T. gondii seropositivity and anti-T. gondii IgG antibody titer and examined associations with memory function while controlling for socioeconomic status, education level, age, and apolipoprotein E4 status. There were few associations between T. gondii seropositivity or anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies and memory, although there was some support suggesting an interaction between anti-T. gondii and sex. In the seropositive-only sample, there was an inverse relationship between anti-T. gondii titer and performance on the selective reminding test. Overall, we found little evidence of an association between impaired memory function and T. gondii seropositivity and anti-T gondii IgG antibodies in this sample of non-demented older adults.

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Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Consequences of Chronic Toxoplasma Infection

Cited by 32 publications

References 87 publications

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders: A cross-sectional survey on 46 thousand of subjects

Toxoplasmosis, but not borreliosis, is associated with psychiatric disorders: A cross-sectional survey on 46 thousand of subjects

Physical and Mental Health Status in Toxoplasma-Infected Women before and 3 Years after They Learn about Their Infection: Manipulation or Side-Effects of Impaired Health?

Association between Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity and memory function in nondemented older adults

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