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Article Type

Article

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the world's most common parasitic infections, with well-known effects on the immune system but poorly understood effects on the endocrine system and inflammation. Emerging literature indicates that the parasite alters the hormonal balance of the host, which may play a role in the development of disease, inflammation and poor health outcomes. But the diagnostic and predictive value of these immuno-endocrine changes in human toxoplasmosis remains poorly understood. In this case-control study, 45 patients with toxoplasmosis and 28 healthy controls were enrolled. White blood cell count, packed cell volume, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, progesterone and prostaglandin were measured. Data were statistically analysed using independent t-tests to compare groups, Pearson correlations to assess inter-variable relationships, multiple linear regression to determine independent predictors, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) to assess diagnostic accuracy, one-way ANOVA to compare regarding age, and odds ratio to determine risk. Compared with controls, toxoplasmosis patients exhibited significantly elevated white blood cell counts (10.15 ± 2.24 vs. 7.82 ± 1.45 × 109/L; p < 0.001) and erythrocyte sedimentation rates (16.80 ± 5.90 vs. 8.90 ± 2.10 mm/hr; p < 0.001), indicating pronounced inflammatory activation. Prostaglandin levels were markedly increased in patients (1535.5 ± 50.2 vs. 245.8 ± 10.5 pg/ml; p < 0.001), whereas progesterone concentrations were profoundly suppressed (3.08 ± 0.25 vs. 28.15 ± 0.45 ng/ml; p < 0.001). Progesterone and prostaglandin were inversely correlated and prostaglandin was positively correlated with inflammatory markers. Multivariate regression analysis revealed prostaglandin as the most significant predictor of progesterone drop. ROC analysis revealed high diagnostic accuracy for progesterone (AUC 0.998) and prostaglandin (AUC 0.995), outperforming more traditional inflammatory markers. Positive toxoplasmosis test was strongly predictive of disease (OR = 15.40; 95% CI: 6.25-37.80; p < 0.001). Toxoplasmosis in humans is characterized by dramatic immuno-endocrine and inflammatory changes, including progesterone suppression and prostaglandin-induced inflammation. These changes show excellent diagnostic and predictive accuracy, suggesting a role for such changes as predictive markers in the diagnosis and risk assessment of toxoplasmosis.

Keywords

Toxoplasma gondii, Genotype III (GIII), DNA amplification, Hormonal alterations

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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