Dimitrios Andreou, Nils Eiel Steen, Lynn Mørch-Johnsen, Kjetil Nordbø Jørgensen, Laura A Wortinger, Claudia Barth, Attila Szabo, Kevin S O'Connell, Tove Lekva, Gabriela Hjell, Ingrid Torp Johansen, Monica B E G Ormerod, Unn K Haukvik, Pål Aukrust, Srdjan Djurovic, Robert H Yolken, Ole A Andreassen, Thor Ueland, Ingrid Agartz
Toxoplasma gondii (TOXO) infection typically results in chronic latency due to its ability to form cysts in the brain and other organs. Latent toxoplasmosis could promote innate immune responses and impact brain function. A large body of evidence has linked TOXO infection to severe mental illness (SMI). We hypothesized that TOXO immunoglobulin G (IgG) seropositivity, reflecting previous infection and current latency, is associated with increased circulating neuron-specific enolase (NSE), a marker of brain damage, and interleukin-18 (IL-18), an innate immune marker, mainly in SMI...
March 4, 2024: Scientific Reports