Lack of association between Toxoplasma gondii exposure and depression in pregnant women: a case-control study

BACKGROUND: Very little is known about the link of T. gondii infection and depression. Through an age-, gender-, and month of pregnancy-matched case-control study, we determined the association of T. gondii infection and depression in pregnant women. METHODS: We studied 200 pregnant women with depression and 200 pregnant women without depression attended in a public hospital in Durango City, Mexico. Pregnant women were tested for the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA), and IgG seropositive women were further tested for the presence of IgM using an EIA. IgM positivity by EIA was further analyzed by enzyme-linked fluorescence assay (ELFA). RESULTS: Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies were found in 9 (4.5%) of the 200 cases and in 12 (6.0%) of the 200 controls (OR = 0.73; 95% CI: 0.30–1.79; P = 0.50). The frequency of high (>150 IU/ml) anti-T. gondii IgG levels was similar in cases and in controls (OR = 1.20; 95% CI: 0.36–4.01; P = 0.75). Two women were positive for IgM by EIA but both were negative by ELFA. CONCLUSIONS: We did not find serological evidence of an association between T. gondii infection and depression in pregnant women attended in a public hospital in Durango City, Mexico. Since an association of T. gondii and depression in pregnancy has been reported in the U.S. previously, further research to elucidate the role of T. gondii in prenatal depression should be conducted. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-017-2292-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.