Is Toxoplasma Gondii Infection Related to Brain and Behavior Impairments in Humans? Evidence from a Population-Representative Birth Cohort
Is Toxoplasma Gondii Infection Related to Brain and Behavior Impairments in Humans? Evidence from a Population-Representative Birth Cohort
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pone.0148435
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发表时间：
2016-02-17
期刊：
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Caspi, Avshalom
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Sugden, Karen;Moffitt, Terrie E.;Caspi, Avshalom
背景弓形虫（T. gondii）是一种原生动物寄生虫，存在于大约三分之一的人口中。感染者通常没有症状，但最近的报告表明感染可能会影响宿主行为的各个方面。特别是，弓形虫感染与精神分裂症、自杀企图、人格差异和较差的神经认知能力有关。然而，这些研究通常是在临床样本或方便样本中进行的。 方法/结果在具有代表性的出生队列中，测试了弓形虫抗体的存在（N = 837），我们研究了感染与人类行为的四个方面之间的关联：神经精神疾病（精神分裂症和重度抑郁症）、冲动控制不良（自杀行为和犯罪）、性格、 和神经认知表现。弓形虫血清阳性个体的自杀企图稍微频繁一些 (p = .06)。血清反应呈阳性的个体在 14 项神经心理功能测量中的一项也表现较差。 结论 总体而言，几乎没有证据表明弓形虫与精神疾病风险增加、冲动控制能力差、人格畸变或神经认知障碍有关。
BackgroundToxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a protozoan parasite present in around a third of the human population. Infected individuals are commonly asymptomatic, though recent reports have suggested that infection might influence aspects of the host's behavior. In particular, Toxoplasma infection has been linked to schizophrenia, suicide attempt, differences in aspects of personality and poorer neurocognitive performance. However, these studies are often conducted in clinical samples or convenience samples.Methods/ResultsIn a population-representative birth-cohort of individuals tested for presence of antibodies to T. gondii (N = 837) we investigated the association between infection and four facets of human behavior: neuropsychiatric disorder (schizophrenia and major depression), poor impulse control (suicidal behavior and criminality), personality, and neurocognitive performance. Suicide attempt was marginally more frequent among individuals with T. gondii seropositivity (p = .06). Seropositive individuals also performed worse on one out of 14 measures of neuropsychological function.ConclusionOn the whole, there was little evidence that T. gondii was related to increased risk of psychiatric disorder, poor impulse control, personality aberrations or neurocognitive impairment.