Diabetic Retinopathy during pregnancy in Hispanic women with latent Toxoplasma gondii infection

Retinal photography was performed in pregnancy and postpartum in pregnant Hispanic women with latent Toxoplasma gondii (TG) infection in order to screen for characteristic retinal lesions or the particular scars found in people with active T. gondii infection. A comparison group of TG negative women was included in the study but they did not have retinal photography.

The goal of the parent study was to assess for adverse pregnancy events and evidence for parasite reactivation in TG positive (TG + ) women, through examination of the eyes for characteristic lesions. Retinal photography, usually at prenatal visits 2 (17 +/- 3.35 weeks) and 3 (26.3+/-1.75) weeks, was done on TG + women. Fifty-six of these women also (43 %) had retinal photography at the postpartum visit. Health and demographic data were obtained at the first prenatal visit for all women.

From the 690 recruited at the first prenatal visit, 128 TG- women and 158 TG + women were enrolled in a prospective study through pregnancy and the postpartum. All TG- women (n = 532) provided data at the first prenatal visit and throughout their pregnancy and birth through the EHR. This allowed comparison of health and outcome data for the TG + compared to a larger number of TG- Hispanic pregnant women.

While there was no evidence of ocular toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, there was a surprisingly large number (42 %) of TG + women with diabetic retinopathy (DR). We also observed that TG + women had a 20 % incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) compared to 11.3 % in the TG- women (p = 0.01). At postpartum (mean 5.6 weeks), 23 of 30 women with pregnancy DR showed no DR in the postpartum.

No characteristic T. gondii lesions were discovered. Retinal photography serendipitously revealed DR in these T. gondii positive women. It was also found that latent TG infection was associated with increased incidence of GDM. Hispanic pregnant women's increased risk for latent TG infection, GDM and DR are underappreciated. Retinal photography may need to be considered an innovative approach to screening.