Association between latent toxoplasmosis and clinical course of schizophrenia - continuous course of the disease is characteristic for Toxoplasma gondii-infected patients.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between various clinical aspects of schizophrenia and seropositivity against Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908). We selected 94 patients with schizophrenia and investigated the seropositivity rate for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies by ELISA. Clinical parameters of schizophrenic patients such as illness type and status, clinical course, awareness of the illness and need for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) were compared with their serological status. Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were detected in 43 (46%) of schizophrenic patients. Chronic patients had a rate of 34 (72%) seropositivity, whereas 9 (22%) of the patients with partial remission showed evidence of latent toxoplasmosis. Of continuous patients, 35 (81%) were found to be seropositive and this rate was significantly more than in the other groups. The rate of latent toxoplasmosis was detected significantly higher in patients who lack awareness of schizophrenia (36, i.e. 72%) than the patients who were aware of their illnesses (7, i.e. 16%). Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were detected in 38 (70%) of ECT performed patients while this percentage was 13% in the ones who had never been treated with ECT. This difference was also statistically significant. We showed that Toxoplasma-infected subjects had 15× higher probability of having continuous course of disease than Toxoplasma-free subjects. Our results put forth the possibility of latent toxoplasmosis to have a negative impact on the course of schizophrenia and treatment response of schizophrenic patients.

[Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii proteins from various strains]. / Toxoplasma gondii'nin çesitli suslarinin proteinlerinin karakterizasyonu.

OBJECTIVE: Toxoplasma gondii the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, is a worldwide intracellular protozoan parasite that infects all warm blooded animals including humans. It can be devastating to immunocompromised humans and congenital transmission may result in severe clinical spectrum. It causes economic losses due to abortus in animals. Toxoplasmosis diagnosis depends on direct and indirect methods. Besides the Sabin-Feldman test, which is accepted to be the reference test, serologic tests such as ELISA and immunofluorescence antibody tests are means of indirect diagnosis. As detected antibodies in serologic tests are correlated with antigens that cause their synthesis, it is important to know different proteins of different strains. In this study RH, Ankara and TS-4 strains were used and differences between their proteins were examined. METHODS: RH and Ankara strains were inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of mice. TS- 4 strain was produced in Vero cell culture. Tachyzoites collected by peritoneal wash were lysed and lyophilised. This was run on SDS-PAGE gel and protein bands were compared with a standard protein ladder after staining with polychromatic silver stain. RESULTS: It was observed that, while Ankara and RH strains had dense bands between 60-70 kDa and at 15 kDa, the most prominent bands of TS-4 strain were 60 ve 115 kDa bands. CONCLUSION: RH and Ankara strains have the same protein bands while TS-4 strain has different and fewer protein bands than the others.

[Evaluation of Sabin-Feldman test results of Ankara University Medical Faculty Medical Parasitology laboratory between 1997-2007]. / Ankara Üniversitesi Tip Fakültesi Tibbi Parazitoloji Bilim Dali Laboratuvarinda 1997-2007 Yillari Arasinda Yapilan Sabin-Feldman Test Sonuçlarinin Degerlendirilmesi.

OBJECTIVE: Toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan infection which has a worldwide distribution. Sabin-Feldman is considered as a reference test among serologic methods for its high sensitivity and specificity and has a role for the confirmation of the suspected results of the commonly used ELISA tests. Few laboratories perform this test as it enrolls the live tachyzoites.The aim of this study was to report the results of Ankara University Medical Faculty Parasitology laboratory which is the first lab to perform this test in Turkey. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated anti-Toxoplasma antibody positivities and titers of 678 sera obtained from 648 patients who applied to our laboratory between January 1997 and December 2007 with a prediagnosis of toxoplasmosis. RESULTS: Among 648 patients (490 (75.62%) female and 158 (24.38%) male), 318 (46.90%) were seropositive with titers of 1:16 or higher. The titers were 1:16 in 93, 1:64 in 134, 1:256 in 53, 1:1024 in 28 and 10 patients with higher titers. Seven patients (1.08%) seroconverted or had a 4 fold increase in antibody titers in their sera taken 3 weeks apart and were considered as acute toxoplasmosis. There was no statistically significant difference between the seropositivity rates of female and male patients (p=0.078). CONCLUSION: Sabin-Feldman Test still has an important role in seroprevalence studies both in humans and animals and confirmation of the tests used in routine diagnosis.

Evaluation of antibodies against hydatid cyst fluid antigens in the post-treatment follow-up of cystic echinococcosis patients.

BACKGROUND: Cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by the metacestode stage of Echinococcus granulosus, is one of the most important zoonoses worldwide. Long post-treatment follow-up is required because of possible relapse. The objective of this study was to determine the values of different antigenic fractions of sheep hydatid cyst fluid in the follow-up of CE patients after treatment. MATERIAL/METHODS: After gradient gel electrophoresis of sheep hydatid cyst fluid, 45 post-treatment (1 month -16 years) serum samples of CE patients treated with PAIR (puncture, aspiration, injection, and reaspiration) and five post-treatment (1 month) sera of operated CE patients were studied using Western blot. Twenty healthy individuals and five patients infected with other helminths served as controls. RESULTS: Antigens with molecular weights of 6.5-8, 14, 20, 29, 45, 50, 66, 116-120, 205, and 215 kDa were identified. The bands detected at the highest frequency were 29 kDa (10.4%), 45 kDa (17.2%), and 66 kDa (12.8%). Sera of the 20 healthy controls recognized no specific bands. All of the sera of the five patients with other parasitic diseases recognized one or more hydatid cyst fluid antigen. There was a statistically significant difference between the time after treatment and band weights (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The protein bands of 29 and 205-215 kDa may be valuable in the follow-up of cystic echinococcosis patients as they disappear one year and six months, respectively, after therapy.

[Investigation of Trichomonas vaginalis in patients with nonspecific vaginal discharge]. / Nonspesifik vajinal akinti sikayeti olan poliklinik hastalarinda Trichomonas vaginalis arastirilmasi.

Trichomoniasis, a protozoan infection, has a worldwide distribution and is the most common nonviral, sexually transmitted disease. In this study, we examined the vaginal swab samples of 114 patients who presented at the obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinic in Ankara in 2004, for the presence of Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) using direct microscopy and culture methods. The samples were taken from patients with nonspecific vaginal discharge during their gynecological examination. Twenty of the samples were obtained from postmenopausal women. T. vaginalis was found in 8 (7%) out of 114 patients and 2 of the samples were from post menopausal women. As a result, the T. vaginalis rate among patients who presenting at outpatient clinics with nonspecific vaginal dis-charge was found to be comparable with the results of the other studies which were carried out in Ankara and other regions of Turkey. Further studies with more samples are needed in order to explain the high rate found among postmenopausal women in this study.