The effect of congenital and adult-acquired<i>Toxoplasma</i>infections on activity and responsiveness to novel stimulation in mice

Hay, J.; Hutchison, W. M.; Aitken, P. P.; Graham, David I.

doi:10.1080/00034983.1983.11811741

Cited by 79 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…The decrease of weight of infected women can be either a direct effect of the deterioration of health of infected subjects or an indirect effect of, for example, higher activity (and therefore caloric output) amongst infected than uninfected women. The later explanation would be compatible with results of earlier animal studies that indicated a higher activity of infected rodents (Hutchison et al 1980b, Hay et al 1983, Webster 1994.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Influence of latent "asymptomatic" toxoplasmosis on body weight of pregnant women

Flegr

Hrdá²,

Kodym³

2005

FOLIA PARASIT

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Abstract. The latent toxoplasmosis is usually considered to be asymptomatic, however, this paradigm has never been rigorously tested. Here we searched for symptoms of deterioration of physical health (decrease of weight) in infected people by analysis of clinical records of 758 women tested for toxoplasmosis in the 16th week of gravidity. Toxoplasma-positive women have a lower body weight in the 16th week of gravidity (p = 0.02) than Toxoplasma-negative women. Moreover, a negative correlation between weight and the duration of toxoplasmosis was found in a subset of 174 Toxoplasma-positive women (p = 0.04), suggesting that slow and cumulative effects of latent toxoplasmosis, rather than a transient effect of acute toxoplasmosis, are responsible for the decreased weight of infected subjects. Longer duration of gravidity estimated from the date of last menstruation in the set of Toxoplasma-positive women in the 16th week of gravidity estimated with ultrasonography (p = 0.04) suggests a possibility of retarded foetal growth in Toxoplasma-positive women. The prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis is extremely high. Therefore, even its mild symptoms such as the decreased body weight in Toxoplasma-positive pregnant women might in fact indicate an unrecognized serious public health problem.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Influence of latent "asymptomatic" toxoplasmosis on body weight of pregnant women

Flegr

Hrdá²,

Kodym³

2005

FOLIA PARASIT

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“…Laboratory and/or experimentally controlled naturalistic studies on rats and mice have also demonstrated that T. gondii infection is associated with a range of subtle behavioural alterations, many of which would facilitate parasite transmission from the infected intermediate host to the feline definitive host [detailed reviews of which may be found elsewhere (Webster, 2001;Webster, 2007)]. For example, T. gondii-infected rodents exhibit an increase in activity and a decrease in predator vigilance behavioural traits (Berdoy et al, 1995;Hay et al, 1983;Hay et al, 1984;Hutchison et al, 1980a;Hutchison et al, 1980b;Lamberton et al, 2008;Webster, 1994;Webster, 2001;Webster, 2007;Webster et al, 1994;Webster et al, 2006). Moreover, whilst uninfected rats show a strong innate aversion to predator odour, T. gondii infection appears to subtly alter the rats' cognitive perception of cat predation risk, turning their innate aversion into a 'suicidal' 'fatal feline attraction' (Berdoy et al, 2000;Vyas et al, 2007c;Webster et al, 2006).…”

Section: Current Evidence For T Gondii Manipulation Of Intermediate mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxoplasma gondiiinfection, from predation to schizophrenia: can animal behaviour help us understand human behaviour?

Webster

Kaushik

Bristow

et al. 2013

Journal of Experimental Biology

152

110

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SummaryWe examine the role of the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii as a manipulatory parasite and question what role study of infections in its natural intermediate rodent hosts and other secondary hosts, including humans, may elucidate in terms of the epidemiology, evolution and clinical applications of infection. In particular, we focus on the potential association between T. gondii and schizophrenia. We introduce the novel term ʻT. gondii-rat manipulation-schizophrenia modelʼ and propose how future behavioural research on this model should be performed from a biological, clinical and ethically appropriate perspective.

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“…One hypothesis is that the metabolic products released from the cyst form of the parasite in the brain cause inflammation and encephalitis with an associated alteration of behaviour (Hay et al 1983). There was also an evidence of focal inflammation with disrupted tissue cysts in mice (Sims and Hay 1995).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of latent toxoplasmosis in the aetiopathogenesis of schizophrenia - the risk factor or an indication of a contact with cat?

Yüksel

Alpay²,

Babür³

et al. 2010

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Abstract:We assessed igg antibody to Toxoplasma gondii in 300 inpatients with schizophrenia (SG), 150 outpatients with anxiety and depressive disorders (PCG), and 150 healthy blood donors (HCG). Seropositivity rates were 60.7% for SG, 36.7% for PCG, and 45.3% for HCG (p<0.001). The seropositivity rate for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies in SG was significantly higher that in PCG (X 2 = 23.11, OR = 2.66, p = 0.001) and HCG (X 2 = 9.52, OR = 1.86, p = 0.002). Among SG, 85% of those who reported close cat contact had igg antibodies to T. gondii. Close cat contacts were reported by 59% of SG, 6% of PCG, and 9% of HCG (p<0.001). There was a nonsignificant positive association between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia for people with a contact with a cat (or = 2.221, p = 0.127, ci 95 = 0.796-6.192), and significant negative association between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia for people without contact with a cat (OR = 0.532, p = 0.009, CI 95 = 0.332-0.854). Close cat contact (OR = 2.679, p<0.001), 51-65-year age group (OR = 1.703, p<0.001) and education [illiterate+primary (OR = 6.146, p<0.001) and high school (OR = 1.974, p = 0.023)] were detected as independent risk factors in multivariate logistic regression. The effect of toxoplasmosis on risk of schizophrenia disappeared in the complex model analyzed with multivariate logistic regression. In conclusion, our data suggest that the toxoplasmosis has no direct effect on the risk of schizophrenia in turkey but is just an indication of previous contacts with a cat.

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The effect of congenital and adult-acquiredToxoplasmainfections on activity and responsiveness to novel stimulation in mice

Cited by 79 publications

References 41 publications

Influence of latent "asymptomatic" toxoplasmosis on body weight of pregnant women

Influence of latent "asymptomatic" toxoplasmosis on body weight of pregnant women

Toxoplasma gondiiinfection, from predation to schizophrenia: can animal behaviour help us understand human behaviour?

The role of latent toxoplasmosis in the aetiopathogenesis of schizophrenia - the risk factor or an indication of a contact with cat?

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