Toxoplasma gondii infection significantly associated with development of epilepsy: study

Toxoplasmosis results from infection with a common parasite found in cat faeces and contaminated food. It can cause serious complications for pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include muscle pain, fever and headache, all of which can last for weeks. Medication can reduce infection severity. But the best approach is prevention by avoiding exposure. People with weakened immune systems should use preventive medication.

A group of researchers performed an age-matched case-control study of incident epileptic patients to assess the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii seropositivity and epilepsy.

Cases were 94 newly diagnosed patients (mean age, 36.7 ± 15.9) with unprovoked convulsive epilepsy of unknown aetiology and controls were 88 healthy individuals (mean age, 37.5 ± 17.1) with no history of epilepsy or neurological disorders. Sera of all subjects were examined for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies using commercially enzyme-linked immunoassays.

The researchers calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using univariate analysis and logistic regression, adjusted for potential confounders.

The results of the study are as follows:

The prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies in epileptic patients (68.1%; 95%CI, 57.6–77.3%) was significantly higher than healthy controls (47.7%; 95%CI, 36.9–58.6%), indicating a significant relationship between Toxoplasma infection seropositivity and epilepsy (adjusted OR, 2.58; 95%CI, 1.16–5.72; P-value < 0.05). The univariate analyses showed more than two-fold higher Toxoplasma seropositivity in patients with focal (OR, 2.31; 95%CI, 0.94–5.67) and generalized (OR, 2.35; 95%CI, 1.215–4.57) seizures versus healthy controls.

Thus, the researchers concluded that the findings support hypothesis that Toxoplasma infection/exposure may play an important role in the development of epilepsy. Preventive measures to control Toxoplasma infection especially in the north of Iran and early treatment might be effective to reduce the occurrence of epilepsy in this region.

Reference:

Mehravar S, et al. Toxoplasma infection and risk of epilepsy: A case-control study of incident patients published in the Microbial Pathogenesis.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpath.2021.105302