Seroprevalence of anti-Toxocara antibody among multiple sclerosis patients: a case-control study

Although previous studies have shown an association between parasitic infections and multiple sclerosis, the possible role of Toxocara infection on the etiology of multiple sclerosis has been overlooked. The present study aimed to investigate the seroprevalence of anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies among patients with multiple sclerosis compared to healthy controls. Seventy patients with prior diagnosis of multiple sclerosis were selected as cases and 70 healthy matched individuals as controls. The presence of serum anti-Toxocara IgG antibody was investigated by ELISA technique. The Chi square test was used to test statistically significant differences for parametric data. A total of 140 serum samples were collected and analyzed. In the case and control groups, 20 (28.6%) and 8 (11.4%) participants had positive serum anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies, respectively, indicating a statistically significant difference (OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.26-7.63; p value = 0.02). The seroprevalence rate was also higher among individuals with a history of contact with dogs (OR 2.7; 95% CI 1.17-6.37; p value = 0.03).The results declare that a protective role of Toxocara canis against the development of multiple sclerosis is unlikely.