Toxoplasma gondii (T.gondii) is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite infecting one-third of the world population, residing relatively silently in the brain of the immunocompetent host. We hypothesized that T.gondii seropositivity and serointensity are associated with having a history of attempting suicide and, in those attempting suicide, a greater number of attempts. T.gondii seropositivity and antibody titers were compared between (a) patients with recurrent mood disorders with history of suicide attempt (99 individuals) versus (b) patients with recurrent mood disorders without history of suicide attempt (119 individuals), and (c) healthy controls (39 individuals). Diagnosis was made using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Statistical methods included chi square, analysis of variance, and linear and logistic regression analyses. Suicide attempters had higher T.gondii antibody titers than nonsuicide attempters (p ϭ 0.004). The logistic regression analysis revealed a predictive association between titers of anti-T.gondii antibodies and history of suicide attempt with OR ϭ 1.55 (1.14 -2.12), p ϭ 0.006. No significant relationship was found between T.gondii seropositivity and suicide attempt status, number of prior suicide attempts, and recurrent mood disorder diagnosis. Although preliminary and bearing replication, this is the first report, to our knowledge, of an association between attempting suicide and T. gondii.

The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the long-term outcome in dogs with left atrial rupture secondary to myxomatous mitral valve disease. Eleven client-owned dogs met the inclusion criteria for the study. Median age was 11.6 yr (range, 8.3-17.8 yr), and median weight was 5.8 kg (range, 3.8-15.2 kg). Of the 11 dogs, 10 survived the initial 24 hr after diagnosis and 5 of the dogs were still alive at the conclusion of data collection. The median survival of all dogs was 203 days. Dogs with no previous history of congestive heart failure (CHF) at the time of diagnosis had a significantly longer median survival time (345 days) compared with dogs with a previous history of CHF (160 days, P = 0.0038). Outcome of dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease presenting with left atria rupture was more favorable than previously reported, and dogs without previous CHF survived the longest.

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