Study of toxoplasmosis in type 2 diabetic patients using ELISA and B1 nested-PCR methods

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a ubiquitous, opportunistic organism, which actually infects all warmblooded animals. Diabetes is a silent, irritating metabolic disorder among which type 2 diabetes includes over 90% of cases globally. This case-control study was aimed to detect T. gondii infection in type 2 diabetic patients in Khuzestan province, southwest of Iran. Serological enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method targeting B1 gene were employed to comparatively detect the parasitic infection among 377 diabetic patients and 200 non-diabetic subjects during 2016-2018. Considerably higher anti-T. gondii antibodies were determined in case group 44.29% (167/377), than in control group 19% (38/200) (P<0.05). Among diabetic patients, 153 (40.58%) were seropositive for IgG and 14 (3.71%) were seropositive for IgM, while 35 (17.5%) and 3 (1.5%) healthy people were seropositive regarding IgG and IgM, respectively (P<0.05). By nested PCR, B1 gene was identified in 36 out of 167 (21.55%) and 5 out of 38 (13.15%) of the seropositive samples of case and control groups, respectively. The prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibodies and DNA in diabetic patients was significantly higher than in non-diabetic patients. Thus, it could be recommended to routinely evaluate the chronicity of the infection in diabetic patients.