The prevalence and associated risk factors of post-transplant Toxoplasma gondii infection among kidney transplant recipients and patients with uremia in Central-southern China

Abstract

Background Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an opportunistic intracellular parasite and is a big threaten for patients with uremia and solid organ transplantation recipients, especially for kidney transplant recipients. However, Toxoplasma seroprevalence in these patient populations remain unclear, and the risk factors of post transplantation T. gondii infection were not well-defined in China and globally. Methods Post-transplant or uremia patient’s serum collected from transplant center of 3rd Xiangya hospital of Central South University were detected by IHA to detect anti-Toxoplasma IgG. A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed with these patient’s medical records and a questionnaire was also conducted. Results The results indicated that approximately 10.59% of the kidney recipients in central-southern China were seropositive for T. gondii post-transplant. While the prevalence in patients with uremia was about 24.12%. We identified that keeping cats and a lower percentage of CD3+T cells and CD8+T cells were associated with higher prevalence of T. gondii IgG+ in uremia patients when compared with kidney transplant recipients. Conclusions This study suggested that kidney recipients and those uremia patients in the waiting list are susceptible to T. gondii infection. Immune status and keeping cats are associated with the seroprevalence in those patients. However, T. gondii infection is a neglected problem, screening and monitoring deserves more attention in the clinic.