Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Iranian patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this research was to investigate the hypothesized association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD). Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, we investigated T. gondii seropositivity in IPD patients in comparison with patients suffering from other neurological diseases (excluding movement disorders) and healthy people. Initially, all participants underwent a thorough clinical and paraclinical investigation. After this, 5 mL of blood was taken from all participants, and sera were tested for immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G (IgG) anti-toxoplasma antibodies. Results: A total of 41 IPD patients, 69 patients with other neurological diseases (excluding movement disorders) comprising 40 stroke patients, 10 epilepsy patients, 10 Alzheimer's disease patients and nine with chronic headaches, and 40 healthy people were investigated. All participants were matched in regard to sex, age and socioeconomic status. The frequency of anti-toxoplasmosis seropositivity and the levels of IgG antibodies were significantly higher in the IPD patients (82.5%), in comparison with healthy participants (65%) and patients with neurological disease (65.2%; P = 0.01). Conclusion: The present findings support the hypothesis of a probable association between T. gondii infection and IPD.