Depression and Toxoplasma gondii infection: assess the possible relationship through a seromolecular case-control...

Depression disorder is one of the most common psychological recognitions that characterized by sadness, low self-confidence, and disinterest in every activity. Considering evidence showing the effects of toxoplasmosis on the psychological disease, this study conducted to investigate the serological and molecular aspects of Toxoplasma gondii infection among patients with depression. In this study, after selecting the patients with depression and control groups under the supervision of a psychologist, the blood samples were collected and the serum samples and buffy coat were separated. The specific anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies in serum samples were evaluated using the commercial ELISA kit. Then the desired region of the Toxoplasma B1 gene was amplified using the specific primers. To confirm the specificity of primers to amplify the B1 gene of Toxoplasma, the extracted PCR product was sequenced. The overall prevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients with depression was 59.8 and 60.19% by ELISA and PCR, respectively. In the control group, the prevalence of Toxoplasma was 56.3 and 40.2% by serology and PCR. There was a significant correlation between the prevalence of toxoplasmosis and depression. Moreover, a significant difference was found between the variables of age, sex, kind of nutrition, level of education and toxoplasmosis among the two cases and control groups. The higher prevalence of Toxoplasma infection among patients with depression compared with the control group indicates the probable impact of this parasite on depression and exacerbates its symptoms, which requires special attention of specialist physicians and patient's relatives.