Toxoplasmosis and symptoms severity in patients with COVID-19 in referral centers in Northern Iran

Geraili, Ali; Badirzadeh, Alireza; Sadeghi, Maryam; Mousavi, Seyed Mahmoud; Mousavi, Parisa; Shahmoradi, Zabihollah; Hosseini, S. M.; Hejazi, Seyed Hossein; Rafiei-Sefiddashti, Raheleh

doi:10.1007/s12639-022-01556-5

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Furthermore, the prevalence of anti- T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies were 5.0% and 26.1%, respectively, in COVID-19 patients. However, no significant associations have been found between T. gondii infection and COVID-19 severity [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic diversity and seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in COVID‑19 patients; a first case-control study in Iran

Hasanzadeh,

Ahmadpour,

Mahami-Oskouei

et al. 2024

BMC Infect Dis

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Background Toxoplasmosis is a serious or life-threatening disease in immunosuppressed patients and pregnant women. This study examined the likely association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and COVID-19 patients with moderate illness. Methods Seventy blood samples were collected from patients at the Health Reference Laboratory of Tabriz, Northwest Iran from April 2021 to September 2021. In addition, 70 healthy subjects of the same age (37 ± 15 years) and sex distribution were ethnically matched. Sera samples were examined for the detection of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies using ELISA. Nested-PCR targets were amplified based on the B1 and GRA6 genes. GRA6 amplicons were subjected to sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Results The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis based on IgG titer was 35.7% in the COVID‑19 patients and 27.1% in the control group, representing not to be associated with the Toxoplasma seropositivity in COVID‑19 patients (P = 0.18) compared to healthy subjects. Anti-T. gondii IgM was not found in any of the patients and healthy individuals. According to PCR amplification of the B1 and GRA6 genes, the frequency of T. gondii in COVID-19 patients was 14.2% (10/70). However, no T. gondii infection was detected in the healthy group. The CD4+T cell count was relatively lower in toxoplasmosis-infected patients (430–450 cells/mm3) than in control group (500–1500 cells/mm3). High genetic diversity (Hd: 0.710) of the type I strain of T. gondii was characterized in the patients. Present results showed that consumption of raw vegetables and close contact with stray cats can increase the transmission of T. gondii to COVID-19 patients (P < 0.01). Conclusions The current study revealed that T. gondii type I infection is unequivocally circulating among the COVID-19 patients in Tabriz; However, no significant association was observed between the occurrence of Toxoplasma and the severity of COVID-19. To make more accurate health decisions, multicenter investigations with a larger sample size of different ethnic groups of the Iranian population are needed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic diversity and seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in COVID‑19 patients; a first case-control study in Iran

Hasanzadeh,

Ahmadpour,

Mahami-Oskouei

et al. 2024

BMC Infect Dis

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“…They reported no link between latent toxoplasmosis and COVID-19 severity, although a high rate of toxoplasmosis was noticed in different COVID-19 severity categories [ 19 , 30 ]. A third study was also done in Iran and concluded that neither acute nor latent toxoplasmosis are risk factors for COVID-19 [ 31 ]. Similarities between the immune response against both SARS-CoV-2 and Toxoplasma are suggested to abolish the influence of toxoplasmosis on COVID-19 outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical and Immunological Impacts of Latent Toxoplasmosis on COVID-19 Patients

Habib,

Hamza,

El-Gamal

et al. 2023

Cureus

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Background Parasites are well-known immune-modulators. They inhibit some aspects of the immune system to ensure persistence inside the host for a long time; meanwhile, they stimulate other immune aspects to assure the survival of the host. Wide variations in the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among developed and developing countries were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parasitic infections, including Toxoplasma gondii ( T. gondii ), were claimed to contribute to such variations. Methods To explore a possible relationship between latent toxoplasmosis and COVID-19 severity, our study included 44 blood samples from moderate/severe COVID-19 patients, who were admitted to Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt, during the pandemic. Patients’ sera were screened for Toxoplasma IgG antibodies using ELISA (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, USA), and the gene expression of important immune markers (iNOS, arginase-1, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and TGF-β) was checked using real-time quantitative PCR. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from the patients’ medical records. Results Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were detected in 33 (75%) of patients. None of the studied clinical or laboratory parameters showed any significant changes in relation to toxoplasmosis seroprevalence. Further classification of the patients according to COVID-19 severity and Toxoplasma seroprevalence did not reveal any changes related to toxoplasmosis as well. Conclusion Our study indicates that latent toxoplasmosis has no effect on the severity of COVID-19.

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“…According to Geraili et al 13 , who found that the seroprevalence (IgG) of T. gondii among COVID-19 positive cases was 26.1%, at a marginal error of 0.05, the power of the study was 95%, the estimated sample size was a minimum number of 296 and after addition 10% (30 cases) for any suspected defect in the patient's records or lab analysis. The final minimal sample was 326 COVID-positive cases.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between breakthrough infection with COVID-19 and Toxoplasma gondii: a cross-sectional study

Gouda,

AboShabaan,

Abdelgawad

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The breakthrough infection following COVID-19 vaccination has been a subject of concern recently. Evidence suggests that COVID-19 vaccine efficacy diminishes over time due to multiple factors related to the host, and vaccine. Coinfection with other pathogens was claimed earlier as a contributing cause for this phenomenon. Hence, we aimed to stratify the association of post-COVID-19 vaccination breakthrough coinfection with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and its impact on disease severity. This cross-sectional study included 330 COVID-19-vaccinated patients confirmed by RT-PCR. They were also screened for anti- T. gondii antibodies using ELISA. Toxoplasma seropositive cases’ whole blood was screened for DNA using PCR to correlate results with COVID-19 severity. Out of 330 COVID-19 vaccinated patients with breakthrough infection, 34.5% (114 patients) showed positivity for Toxoplasma IgG by ELISA, and none of the cases was IgM positive. Eleven patients (9.6%) of the IgG-positive cases were positive by PCR. Positive PCR cases correlated positively with the Toxoplasma IgG titer (P < 0.001), and the Cutoff point was 191.5. Molecular analysis of Toxoplasma and COVID-19 severity showed that 8 (72.7%), 1 (9.1%), and 2 cases (18.2%) had mild, moderate, and severe courses of the disease, respectively, with no significant correlation. Our study reported a heightened prevalence of latent toxoplasmosis among mild cases of COVID-19 breakthrough infection. Nevertheless, a discernible correlation between latent toxoplasmosis and COVID-19 severity is lacking. Hence, implementing studies on a larger scale could provide a more comprehensive comprehension of this association.

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Toxoplasmosis and symptoms severity in patients with COVID-19 in referral centers in Northern Iran

Cited by 12 publications

References 26 publications

Genetic diversity and seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in COVID‑19 patients; a first case-control study in Iran

Genetic diversity and seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in COVID‑19 patients; a first case-control study in Iran

Clinical and Immunological Impacts of Latent Toxoplasmosis on COVID-19 Patients

Association between breakthrough infection with COVID-19 and Toxoplasma gondii: a cross-sectional study

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