Toxoplasma Gondii Infection and Depression: A Case—Control Seroprevalence Study

Abstract

We assessed the association of Toxoplasma gondii infection and depression in a sample of psychiatric patients and control subjects without depression. We performed an age- and gender-matched case—control study of 89 patients suffering from depression attended in a public psychiatric hospital in Durango City, Mexico and 356 control subjects without depression from the general population of the same city. Participants were tested for the presence of anti- Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies using enzymelinked immunoassays. Anti- T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 11 (12.4%) of the 89 cases and in 22 (6.2%) of the 356 controls (OR = 2.14; 95% CI: 1.00–4.59; P = 0.04). Anti- T. gondii IgM antibodies were found in four (19%) of 21 anti- T. gondii IgG seropositive controls but not in 11 anti- T. gondii IgG seropositive cases ( P = 0.27). Patients aged 30 years old and younger had a significantly higher seroprevalence of T. gondii infection than controls of the same age group ( P = 0.001). Results of the present study suggest a potential association between T. gondii infection and depression. Furthers studies to confirm our results and to determine the epidemiology of T. gondii in young depressed patients should be conducted.