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

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.