Miscarriage history andToxoplasma gondii infection: A cross-sectional study in women in Durango City, Mexico

Abstract

Through a cross-sectional study design, 326 women with a history of miscarriage were examined for anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG and IgM antibodies in Durango City, Mexico. Prevalence association with sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioral characteristics in women with miscarriage was also investigated. Twenty-two (6.7%) of the 326 women studied had anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies and two (0.6%) were also positive for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies. Seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was not influenced by age, birth place, occupation, educational level, or socioeconomic status. In contrast, logistic regression showed that T. gondii exposure was associated with consumption of raw or undercooked meat (OR = 6.84; 95% CI: 1.04-44.95; P = 0.04) and consumption of chicken brains (OR = 18.48; 95% CI: 1.26-269.43; P = 0.03). This is the first study on the seroepidemiology of T. gondii infection in women with a history of miscarriage in Northern Mexico. Of interest, we also observed an association of T. gondii exposure with consumption of chicken brains. Contributing factors for T. gondii exposure found in the present study should be taken into consideration for public health measures to avoid infection with T. gondii and its sequelae.

Prevalence and risk factors profile of seropositiveToxoplasmosis gondiiinfection among apparently immunocompetent Sudanese women

“…It is worth noting the tendency of association between seropositivity and direct contact with cats. In general, this study results were similar to other reports in which no significant association between these risk factors and having anti- T. gondii immunoglobulins (35, 37) and in contrast to previous reports that showed consumption of raw meat was significantly associated with toxoplasmosis infection (35, 38).…”

“…In this study, the history of two spontaneous abortion was statistically significant with having seropositive anti- T. gondii immunoglobulins (P. value 0.038). This result was higher compared to previous studies conducted among women with history of miscarriage in Mexico (38), but similar to spontaneous abortion rate in seropositive women for T. gondii infection reported in Pakistan (17%) (39), and lower than other studies done in Egypt (40), Iran (41), and India (42). When we linked the frequency of abortion to the presence of direct contact with cats, which was considered as a risk factor for having toxoplasmosis, the relationship was statistically significant (P. value = 0.031), similar to an association reported in Zambia (36).…”

Toxoplasma gondii exposure in patients suffering from mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance use

“…Toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised patients may be a life-threatening disease [ 2 , 7 ]. In addition, congenital toxoplasmosis may occur after primary T. gondii infection during pregnancy [ 2 , 8 , 9 ].…”

Immunological tolerance, pregnancy and pre-eclampsia: the roles of semen microbes and the father1

“…Our logic would also imply a role for (potentially male-derived) microbes in miscarriages and spontaneous abortions. A microbial component to these seems well established for both miscarriages [481][482][483] and spontaneous abortions [484][485][486][487][488][489]. Of course the ability of Brucella abortus to induce abortions in domesticated livestock, especially cattle (and occasionally in humans), is well known [490][491][492]; indeed, bacteriospermia is inimical to fertilisation success [493], and nowadays it is well controlled in livestock by the use of vaccines [494] or antimicrobials [493].…”