| Summary: | Introduction: Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by the protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii. In people with healthy immune system, generally, the infection is asymptomatic, but for the people with immune deficiency severe disease can be observed in case of the acute infection or activation. Determination of prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies is indicative of exposure to the infection in on-dialysis patients, since they are susceptible of many diseases.
Objectives: This study aimed at determination of prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgM and IgG in on-dialysis patients comparing to the healthy people in Sistan area.
Patients and Methods: This study was of a case control type. Subjects included all of the on-dialysis patients in Sistan as a case group, 76 persons, and healthy people as the controls, 76 persons, who referred to Imam Khomeini hospital of Zabol and Seyyed-Al-Shohada hospital of Zahak, from which 85 were male and 67 were female. Simple sampling was used. The materials were demographic information and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used for determination of anti-Toxoplasma IgM and IgG. The obtained data were then analyzed with SPSS v. 16 using chi-square test.
Results: Anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG was observed in 56 (73.7%) cases of the on-dialysis patients and 33 (43.4%) cases of healthy individuals. Anti-Toxoplasma IgM was not detected in the patients in either groups. The difference in IgG antibodies among two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.001)
Conclusion: The prevalence of IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma in the on-dialysis patients is higher compared to healthy group, thus these patients are at the higher risk of infection with Toxoplasma gondii.
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