Toxoplasma gondii Exposure and the Risk of Schizophrenia

Background: schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder with a deeply destructive pathophysiology. there are evidences to indicate that infectious agents such as toxoplasma gondii may play some roles in etiology of the disorder.objectives: the current study aimed to determine the association between t. gondii exposure and the risk of schizophrenia.materials and methods: t. gondii igg antibodies of 100 patients with schizophrenia as well as 200 healthy volunteers were assessed. the subjects also completed demographic questionnaires. data was analyzed using the chi-square and fisher exact tests.results: the analyses confirmed the significant differences between healthy women and ones with schizophrenia (p = 0.001) as well as between males and females with schizophrenia (p = 0.009) in igg positivity.conclusions: the present study supported the contamination with t. gondii as a risk factor for schizophrenia just in women.