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Volume 5 Supplement 1

International Society on Brain and Behaviour: 2nd International Congress on Brain and Behaviour

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Toxoplasma gondii and schizophrenia

Annals of General Psychiatry volume 5, Article number: S169 (2006) Cite this article

Background

Infectious agents may contribute to some cases of schizophrenia. In animals, T. gondii infection can alter behaviour and neurotransmitter function. Establishing the role of T. gondii in etiopathogenesis of schizophrenia might lead to new medications for its prevention and treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the relation between schizophrenia and T. gondii in Iranian patients.

Materials and methods

Serum samples of 230 cases of schizophrenia and 230 of a matched control group were examined for Toxoplasma antibodies (IgG, IgM) by Elisa method. Data were analysed by Chi square and Odd ratio, and p value less than 0.05 was determined statistically significant.

Results

41 (17.8%) out of 230 patient cases and 17 (7.3%) out of 230 control cases were antibody positive. The difference was statistically meaningful. There were no differences between age groups and both genders.

Discussion

These findings indicate that T. gondii may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of some schizophrenic cases. Therefore, more basic studies and clinical trials are recommended to confirm this role.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Esfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran

    Mojgan Mokhtari & Mohammadreza Mokhtari

Authors
  1. Mojgan Mokhtari
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  2. Mohammadreza Mokhtari
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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Mokhtari, M., Mokhtari, M. Toxoplasma gondii and schizophrenia. Ann Gen Psychiatry 5 (Suppl 1), S169 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-859X-5-S1-S169

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-859X-5-S1-S169

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Annals of General Psychiatry

ISSN: 1744-859X