Dear Editor-in-Chief
Very little is known about the link between Toxoplasma gondii infection and alcohol consumption. In two cross-sectional studies, T. gondii exposure was associated with alcohol consumption (1, 2). However, there is not a previous report about the association between T. gondii infection and alcohol consumption assessed by an age- and gender-matched case-control study design.
We sought to determine this association in a sample of people in Durango City, Mexico from January 2017 to August 2019. Two hundred and fourteen subjects with a history of alcohol consumption (cases) and 214 subjects without alcohol consumption (controls) were examined for anti-T. gondii antibodies. Each group included 78 males and 136 females. Cases were recruited in Alcoholic Anonymous centers (n=127) and health care centers (n=87).
The age in cases (mean: 34.41±11.27; range: 17–68 years) was similar (P=0.97) to that in controls (mean: 34.37±11.31; range 17–68). There was no difference (P=0.44) in residence place between groups. Sera of participants were analyzed for detection of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies using the enzyme immunoassay “Toxoplasma gondii IgG” kit (Diagnostic Automation/Cortez Diagnostics, Inc., Woodland Hills, California. USA). Anti-T. gondii IgG seropositive samples were tested for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies by the enzyme immunoassay “Toxoplasma gondii IgM” kit (Diagnostic Automation/Cortez Diagnostics, Inc.).
The Institutional Review Board of the Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers in Durango City, Mexico approved this study.
Ten (4.7%) of the 214 cases and 21 (9.8%) of the 214 controls had anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies (OR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.20–0.98; P=0.04). As shown in Table 1, stratification by gender and age showed a lower seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in male cases than in male controls (P=0.03), and in cases aged 31–50 years than in controls of the same age group (P=0.03). Cases of Alcoholics Anonymous had the lowest seroprevalence of T. gondii infection (Table 2). The frequency of high (>150 IU/ml) levels of anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies was similar in cases and in controls (6/10: 60% and 13/21; 61.9%, respectively; P=0.91). One (10%) of the 10 cases and 5 (23.8%) of the 21 controls with anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were also positive for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies (P=0.63).
Table 1:
Stratification by sex and age in cases and controls and seroprevalence of T. gondii infection
| Variable | Cases | Controls | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Seropositivity to T. gondii | No. | Seropositivity to T. gondii | OR (95% CI) | P | |||
| Characteristics | tested | No. | % | tested | No. | % | ||
| Gender | ||||||||
| Male | 78 | 1 | 1.3 | 78 | 8 | 10.3 | 0.11 (0.01–0.93) | 0.03 |
| Female | 136 | 9 | 6.6 | 136 | 13 | 9.6 | 0.67 (0.27–1.62) | 0.37 |
| Age (yr) | ||||||||
| ≤30 | 86 | 4 | 4.7 | 87 | 6 | 6.9 | 0.65 (0.17–2.42) | 0.74 |
| 31–50 | 110 | 6 | 5.5 | 108 | 15 | 13.9 | 0.35 (0.13–0.95) | 0.03 |
| >50 | 18 | 0 | 0.0 | 19 | 0 | 0.0 | - | - |
Table 2:
Comparison of T. gondii seropositivity rates in cases and controls according to recruitment place
| Variable | Cases | Controls | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||||
| No. | Seropositivity to T. gondii | No. | Seropositivity to T. gondii | OR (95% CI) | P | |||
| Place | tested | No. | % | tested | No. | % | ||
| AA* | 127 | 3 | 2.4 | 127 | 14 | 11.0 | 0.19 (0.05–0.69) | 0.01 |
| No AA | 87 | 7 | 8.0 | 87 | 7 | 8.0 | 1.00 (0.33–2.98) | 1.00 |
Alcoholics Anonymous.
The results suggest that seropositivity to T. gondii is negatively associated with a history of alcohol consumption. In a study in Poland, no correlation between the presence of T. gondii DNA in the brain and excessive alcohol consumption was found (3). In a study about T. gondii infection and common mental disorders in the Finnish general population, investigators found that T. gondii seroprevalence was not associated with alcohol use disorders (4). In contrast, in a study of postmortem examinations in Poland, researchers found that the frequency of anti-T. gondii antibodies was significantly higher in people with positive blood alcohol test results than in their equivalents with negative test results (5). In addition, in a study of patients suffering from heart disease, the frequency of T. gondii seropositivity was significantly higher in patients with alcohol consumption than in those without this consumption (1).
Further research to determine the association between T. gondii exposure and alcohol consumption is needed.
Acknowledgements
This study was financially supported by Secretary of Public Education, Mexico (Grant No. DSA/103.5/14/11311).
Footnotes
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that no conflict of interest exist.
References
- 1. Alvarado-Esquivel C, Salcedo-Jaquez M, Sanchez-Anguiano LF, et al. ( 2016). Association between Toxoplasma gondii Exposure and Heart Disease: A Case-Control Study. J Clin Med Res, 8 (5): 402–9. doi: 10.14740/jocmr2525w. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2. Samojłowicz D, Borowska-Solonynko A, Kruczyk M. ( 2017). New, previously unreported correlations between latent Toxoplasma gondii infection and excessive ethanol consumption. Forensic Sci Int, 280: 49–54. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.09.009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3. Samojłowicz D, Twarowska-Małczyńska J, Borowska-Solonynko A, Poniatowski ŁA, Sharma N, Olczak M. ( 2019). Presence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in brain as a potential cause of risky behavior: a report of 102 autopsy cases. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, 38 (2): 305–317. doi: 10.1007/s10096-018-3427-z. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4. Suvisaari J, Torniainen-Holm M, Lindgren M, Härkänen T, Yolken RH. ( 2017). Toxoplasma gondii infection and common mental disorders in the Finnish general population. J Affect Disord, 223: 20–25. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.07.020. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5. Samojłowicz D, Borowska-Solonynko A, Gołab E. ( 2013). Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii parasite infection among people who died due to sudden death in the capital city of Warsaw and its vicinity. Przegl Epidemiol, 67 ( 1): 29–33, 115– 8. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]