Toxoplasma gondii infection among chronic hepatitis C patients: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the detection rate of anti-Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) IgG and IgM in chronic HCV patients attending the Department of Tropical Medicine Mansoura University hospital in Egypt.

METHODS

This study included 120 adult chronic HCV patients, 81 decompensate cirrhosis (late-stage) and 39 chronic HCV non cirrhotic patients (early-stage) and 40 healthy blood donors as controls. Serum samples were examined for anti-Toxoplasma IgM and anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies by ELISA. Real-time RT-polymerase chain reaction assay was done for quantitation of hepatitis C virus.

RESULTS

Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were detected in 75 (92.6%) of 81 late-stage cirrhotic patients, 30 (76.9%) of the 39 chronic HCV non cirrhotic patients (early-stage) and in 6 (15%) of 40 controls with statistically significant difference (P<0.001). Anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies were found in 11 (13.6%) in late stage patients, 5 (12.8%) in early stage and in 3 (7.5%) of controls with no statistical significant difference (P=0.610). There was no correlation between stage of fibrosis and IgM or IgG antibodies positivity in our studied groups (P=0.526). High IgG levels significantly correlated with high viral load (P=0.026).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that the serious opportunistic T. gondii infection represent a potential significant risk for chronic HCV patients. So, toxoplasmosis should be considered in their investigations and follow-up.