The association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and postpartum blues

Gao, J-M; He, Z-H; Xie, Y-T; Hide, G; Lai, D-H; Lun, Z-R

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite infecting approximately 30% of
the global human population. It has often been suggested that chronic infection with T. gondii is related to
personality changes and various mental disorders including depression. It is not known whether this includes
post-partum blues or depression. In this study, we test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between T.
gondii infection and post-partum blues by measuring the association between infection and postpartum blues.


Methods: A total of 475 Chinese women who have just given birth were detected serology for Toxoplasma IgG
and IgM antibodies, and evaluated the degree of depression by Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) score. Data were analyzed by Chi-square or Fisher's Exact tests using SPSS software.


Results: We found an overall Toxoplasma seroprevalence of 5.68% (27/475; 95% CI: 3.59–7.77) which was
broken down into a prevalence of 6.60% (7/106; 95% CI: 1.80–11.41) in mothers with post-partum blues and
5.42% (20/369; 95% CI: 3.10–7.74) in non-affected mothers. There was no significant association between
infection and post-partum blues (p=0.64).


Conclusion: The results suggest that there is no relationship between T. gondii infection and postpartum blues, at least in this sample of patients from China.

Citation

Gao, J., He, Z., Xie, Y., Hide, G., Lai, D., & Lun, Z. (2019). The association between Toxoplasma gondii infection and postpartum blues. Journal of Affective Disorders, 250, 404-409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.013

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 3, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Mar 5, 2019
• Publication Date: May 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 5, 2020
• Journal: Journal of Affective Disorders
• Print ISSN: 0165-0327
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Volume: 250
• Pages: 404-409
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.013
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.013
• Related Public URLs: https://www.salford.ac.uk/environment-life-sciences/our-staff/els-academics/geoff-hide; https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-affective-disorders/vol/250/suppl/C