Prevalence of Toxoplasma infection in first-episode schizophrenia and comparison between Toxoplasma-seropositive and Toxoplasma-seronegative schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection between the first-episode schizophrenia and the controls and to compare the clinical features between the Toxoplasma-seronegative and Toxoplasma-seropositive patients with schizophrenia.


METHODS
The rate of serum reactivity to Toxoplasma in 600 schizophrenia, 600 affective disorders, and 400 controls was investigated. The clinical symptoms of the schizophrenia patients were scored and compared.


RESULTS
The rate of IgG antibody, not IgM in the schizophrenia patients, was higher than the control groups, and the odds ratio of schizophrenia associated with IgG antibody was 2.22-5.12. The affective disorders did not differ in the rate of IgG or IgM antibody from the normal or the physical disease control. The seropositive schizophrenia patients had higher scores on the positive subscale and three components of Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale than the seronegative patients.


CONCLUSIONS
This study lent further weight to the hypothesis that exposure to Toxoplasma may be a risk factor for schizophrenia.
Wang
H-L
HL
Department of Psychiatry, Research Institute of Neurology and Psychiatry, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Wang
G-H
GH
Li
Q-Y
QY
Shu
C
C
Jiang
M-S
MS
Guo
Y
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D016781:Toxoplasmosis, Cerebral / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M