RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) causes an important parasitic infection known as toxoplasmosis, which is a globally distributed important zoonosis. One of the major serious characteristics of T. gondii is its ability to manipulate the behavior of intermediate hosts. We performed a cross-sectional study to determine toxoplasmosis in schizophrenic patients, as one of the major neuropsychiatric disorders, using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technic by targeting parasite B1 gene. METHODS: Blood samples were taken from 118 schizophrenic patients hospitalized in tow hospitals including Baharan, Clinic of Psychiatric Ali-ibn-Abi-Talib Hospital (in Zahedan City), and Amir-al Momenin Psychiatric Hospital (in Zabol City), Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeast Iran in 2016. They were analyzed using LAMP, and compared with the previous data of nested-PCR and serology. RESULTS: Out of the 118 schizophrenic individuals, 56 patients (47.4%) were found to be infected with T. gondii. The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis was confirmed in 41 patients (34.7%) via the nested-PCR. The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in schizophrenic patients was 55.9% (66/118). CONCLUSION: We found a high efficiency of LAMP method in identifying toxoplasmosis and its high prevalence among schizophrenic patients. Our findings could provide viable offer implications for the prevention of schizophrenia.
RESUMEN
This report describes a rare case of ophthalmic dirofilariasis in a 2-year-old boy with redness, irritation, pain and foreign body sensation in the right eye. Slit lamp examination demonstrated a thread-like whitish nematode in the anterior chamber of the right eye that twisted around itself. The nematode worm (35mm long and 150-200µm width) was removed surgically. The presence of the smooth cuticular surface without longitudinal ridges and the vulva showed that it could be a female Diroflaria immitis. PCR amplification was done to verify the Diroflaria species. PCR amplification and sequence analysis of mitochondrial 12S rDNA confirmed that recovered worm was D. immitis. Ocular dirofilariasis caused by D. immitis is very rare, but it must be considered in humans living in endemic areas.