Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) Assay to De-tect Toxoplasmosis in Schizophrenia Patients

Hadi  MIRAHMADI; Raheleh  HASANZADEH; Hamid   MALEK RAEESI; Shirzad  FALLAHI; Mahdi  KHOSHSIMA SHAHRAKI; Alireza  BADIRZADEH

doi:10.18502/ijpa.v15i3.4193

Hadi MIRAHMADI
Raheleh HASANZADEH
Hamid MALEK RAEESI
Shirzad FALLAHI
Mahdi KHOSHSIMA SHAHRAKI
Alireza BADIRZADEH

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijpa.v15i3.4193

Keywords: Loop-mediated isother-mal ampliﬁcation (LAMP); Toxoplasma gondii; Toxoplasmosis; Schizophrenia;

Abstract

Background: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) causes an important parasitic infection known as toxoplasmosis, which is a globally distributed important zoonosis. One of the major serious characteristics of T. gondii is its ability to manipulate the behavior of intermediate hosts. We performed a cross-sectional study to determine toxoplasmosis in schizophrenic patients, as one of the major neuropsychiatric disorders, using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technic by targeting parasite B1 gene.

Methods: Blood samples were taken from 118 schizophrenic patients hospitalized in tow hospitals including Baharan, Clinic of Psychiatric Ali-ibn-Abi-Talib Hospital (in Zahedan City), and Amir-al Momenin Psychiatric Hospital (in Zabol City), Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeast Iran in 2016. They were analyzed using LAMP, and compared with the previous data of nested-PCR and serology.

Results: Out of the 118 schizophrenic individuals, 56 patients (47.4%) were found to be infected with T. gondii. The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis was confirmed in 41 patients (34.7%) via the nested-PCR. The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in schizophrenic patients was 55.9% (66/118).

Conclusion: We found a high efficiency of LAMP method in identifying toxoplasmosis and its high prevalence among schizophrenic patients. Our findings could provide viable offer implications for the prevention of schizophrenia.