Background: Recently, a negative association between Toxoplasma-infection and novelty seeking was reported. The authors suggested that changes of personality trait were caused by manipulation activity of the parasite, aimed at increasing the probability of transmission of the parasite from an intermediate to a definitive host. They also suggested that low novelty seeking indicated an increased level of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain of infected subjects, a phenomenon already observed in experimentally infected rodents. However, the changes in personality can also be just a byproduct of any neurotropic infection. Moreover, the association between a personality trait and the toxoplasmosis can even be caused by an independent correlation of both the probability of Toxoplasma-infection and the personality trait with the third factor, namely with the size of living place of a subject. To test these two alternative hypotheses, we studied the influence of another neurotropic pathogen, the cytomegalovirus, on the personality of infected subjects, and reanalyzed the original data after the effect of the potential confounder, the size of living place, was controlled.

Reactivation of HHVs in the CNS due to inflammation has not been well described yet. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of HHV DNA detection in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of immunocompetent patients with meningoencephalitis of other than HHV origin. The secondary aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of herpesvirus co-infection on the clinical course and patient outcome. Ninety-six patients with clinically and laboratory proven tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and 77 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of enteroviral meningitis (EVM), along with a control group of 107 patients without evidence of inflammation in the CSF were retrospectively tested by nested PCR for the presence of DNA of the neurotropic herpesviruses HSV1, HSV2, VZV, and HHV6 in the CSF. The clinical course, laboratory tests, antiviral treatment, and neurological complications in a 6-month follow-up were compared between the groups positive or negative for HHV DNA in the CSF. HHV DNA was found in the CSF of 12 (6.9%) patients (6.3% and 7.8% in the TBE and EVM groups, respectively) and in 1 (0.9%) control patient. None of the patients had recent blisters or rash. The clinical course was comparably mild in all patients. No permanent neurological sequelae were observed. Only the CSF total protein level was significantly higher in HHV DNA-positive than in HHV-negative patients.

By promoting the inflammatory process in the arterial wall, Chlamydia pneumoniae (CPN) and human cytomegalovirus (CMV) participate in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Since patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at high risk of CVD, we studied markers of CMV and CPN infection in DM patients as possible predictors of cardiovascular complications. The seroprevalence rates of CMV in 44 DM patients and matched controls were 74 and 88%, respectively. Compared with controls, patients showed lower titers of IgG against CMV (p < 0.001) and higher titers of genus-specific IgA against CPN (p = 0.006). The titers of genus-specific IgG and prevalence rates of type-specific anti-CPN IgA, IgG or IgM were similar in both DM patients and controls. Serological markers of either active or recent CPN infection were detected in 54% of patients and 59% of controls. However, CPN DNA was not detected in the blood of any DM patient. CMV DNA was found in the blood of 1 (2.3%) patient. The results do not indicate an increased rate of CMV or CPN infection in patients with type II DM.

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gO genotyping may contribute to the biological characterization of CMV strains in HSCT recipients.