toxoplasma infection in schizophrenia patients: a comparative study with control group

background : schizophrenia is a serious, chronic, and often debilitating neuropsychiatric disor­der. its causes are still poorly understood. besides genetic and non-genetic (environmental) fac­tors are thought to be important as the cause of the structural and functional deficits that character­ize schizophrenia. this study aimed to compare toxoplasma gondii infection between schizo­phrenia patients and non-schizophrenia individuals as control group. methods : a case-control study was designed in tehran, iran during 2009-2010. sixty-two pa­tients with schizophrenia and 62 non-schizophrenia volunteers were selected. to ascertain a possible relationship between t . gondii infection and schizophrenia, anti- toxoplasma igg antibodies were detected by indirect-elisa. data were statistically analyzed by chi- square at a confidence level of 99%. results : the sero-positivity rate among patients with schizophrenia (67.7%) was significantly higher than control group (37.1) ( p <0. 01). conclusion : a significant correlation between toxoplasma infection and schizophrenia might be ex­pected.