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Abstract
Objective:
Toxoplasma gondii infection is a very common parasitic disease in human. In Turkey, the rate of seropositivity was reported as 23.1% to 36%. Because of the high affinity of parasite into Central Nervous System (CNS), chronic toxoplasma infection has been found correlated with many neuropsychiatric disorders, including altered mental status, obsessive-compulsive disorder, cognitive impairment, epilepsy, headache and schizophrenia. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether T. gondii has any role in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) by measuring anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies.
Methods:
Fifty-two MS patients followed up and 45 controls with similar age and socioeconomic status were included in the study. Anti-T.gondii IgL antibodies of the patients and controls were studied in blood with micro-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique.
Results:
Of 52 MS patients included in the study, 37 had RRMS, 10 PPMS and 5 SPMS. Mean age of onset of the disease was 31.7±10.4 (min; 14 and max; 53). Twenty three of 52 (44.2%) cases with MS and 11 of 45 (24.4%) healthy controls were positive for anti-T.gondii IgG antibodies. There was a statistically significant difference between the rates of positivity between the MS patient group and control group (p=0.042).
Conclusion:
This study shows a relation of chronic T. Gondii infection with MS. According to this study, experienced T.gondii infection may be one of the several environmental risk factors for MS.
License
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Original Article
EUR J GEN MED, 2016, Volume 13, Issue 1, 58-63
https://doi.org/10.15197/ejgm.01429
Publication date: 16 Jan 2016
Article Views: 2222
Article Downloads: 941
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