Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitic Diseases, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
PLoS One. 2019 Jul 10;14(7):e0219454. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219454. eCollection 2019.
The association of latent toxoplasmosis with mental disorders in general and with schizophrenia in particular was noticed in the mid-1950s. In subsequent years, the role of Toxoplasma gondii was established based on its ability to survive for long periods of time in the nerve cells of the brain. The acute manifestations of the infection include psychopathic symptoms resembling those of schizophrenia. In the former USSR, and in other parts of the world, a number of studies were performed with respect to the association of latent toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia. However, with the dissolution of the USSR at the beginning of the 1990s, studies on the subject were halted due to financial problems and have resumed only recently. The reasons for the resumption of such studies in contemporary Russia are related to the progressively increasing incidence of schizophrenia over the last 25-30 years in the country. According to official data, approximately 550 000 persons reported suffering from the disease in 2014. There are reasons to believe that this is only a fraction of the real burden of the disease. Economically, it cost the state no less than approximately US $10 billion. The purpose of the study was to identify the level of toxoplasmosis seroprevalence in patients with verified diagnoses of schizophrenia in comparison to healthy people in Moscow City and in the Moscow region. A total of 155 persons constituted the patients group and 152 healthy people were in the control group. An integrated approach to the diagnosis and comparison of data from the entire spectrum of serological markers of infection was used, including the detection of specific IgM and the determination of IgG concentrations. It was found that among persons with neuropsychiatric disorders, the incidence of cases with latent toxoplasmosis was higher than in the control group. The effect of toxoplasmosis was significant and similar for men and women. Further statistical analyses revealed that among patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the incidence of latent toxoplasmosis was significantly higher than in the control group. These data are in agreement with the results of similar studies in other countries.
早在 20 世纪 50 年代中期，人们就注意到潜伏性弓形体病与一般精神障碍，特别是与精神分裂症之间存在关联。在随后的几年中，基于弓形虫能够在大脑神经细胞中长时间存活的能力，确定了其作用。感染的急性表现包括类似于精神分裂症的精神病症状。在前苏联和世界其他地区，针对潜伏性弓形体病与精神分裂症之间的关联进行了多项研究。然而，随着 20 世纪 90 年代初苏联解体，由于财政问题，该主题的研究停止了，直到最近才恢复。在当代俄罗斯恢复此类研究的原因与过去 25-30 年来该国精神分裂症发病率的不断增加有关。根据官方数据，2014 年约有 55 万人报告患有该病。有理由相信，这只是该病实际负担的一小部分。从经济角度来看，它给国家造成的损失不少于约 100 亿美元。该研究的目的是确定莫斯科市和莫斯科地区确诊为精神分裂症患者的弓形体病血清阳性率水平，并与健康人群进行比较。共有 155 人组成患者组，152 名健康人组成对照组。采用综合方法进行诊断，并比较了感染整个血清学标志物谱的数据，包括特异性 IgM 的检测和 IgG 浓度的测定。结果发现，在神经精神障碍人群中，潜伏性弓形体病的发病率高于对照组。感染的影响在男性和女性中均显著且相似。进一步的统计分析显示，在精神分裂症患者中，潜伏性弓形体病的发病率明显高于对照组。这些数据与其他国家类似研究的结果一致。
