Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma Gondii Among Hiv Patients in Jahrom, Southern Iran Publisher Pubmed



Rezanezhad H¹ ; Sayadi F² ; Shadmand E³ ; Nasab SDM³ ; Yazdi HR³ ; Solhjoo K¹ ; Kazemi A³ ; Maleki M⁴ ; Vasmehjani AA³
Source: Korean Journal of Parasitology Published:2017

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an important opportunistic agent especially in immunocompromised hosts and can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Hence, detection and monitoring of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies are of a great interest in HIV-infected patients. A study on the prevalence of toxoplasmosis and associated risk factors was carried out among HIV-infected patients in Jahrom, southern Iran. The prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies was 21.1% in HIV-infected patients by ELISA. PCR was performed on all of the samples, and 1 of the blood samples was positively detected. Among the HIV patients, anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were significantly higher in age group of 30-39 years old (P = 0.05). The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients with CD4+ < 100 cells/µl was 33.3% that was significantly higher than the other groups (P = 0.042) with or without IgG antibodies. The CD4+ count mean of seropositive patients was lower than that of seronegative patients. The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients with highly active antiretro-viral therapy was significantly less than patients without therapy (P = 0.02). In conclusion, this study showed low seroprevalence of latent toxoplasmosis among HIV-infected patients in the region and confirmed the need for intensifying prevention efforts among this high-risk population and also the risk of toxoplasmosis reactivation which could be important among this population. © 2017, Korean Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine.