First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study

An emerging field of research is starting to examine the association of infectious pathogens with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). An understudied parasite of interest is Toxoplasma gondii. Globally, very few studies have been conducted to investigate this association. Additionally, very little data...

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Main Authors: Aus Molan, Kazunori Nosaka, Michael Hunter, Jinxia Zhang, Xiaoni Meng, Manshu Song, Wei Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020-01-01
Series:Journal of Parasitology Research
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/3142918
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author Aus Molan
Kazunori Nosaka
Michael Hunter
Jinxia Zhang
Xiaoni Meng
Manshu Song
Wei Wang
author_facet Aus Molan
Kazunori Nosaka
Michael Hunter
Jinxia Zhang
Xiaoni Meng
Manshu Song
Wei Wang
author_sort Aus Molan
collection DOAJ
description An emerging field of research is starting to examine the association of infectious pathogens with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). An understudied parasite of interest is Toxoplasma gondii. Globally, very few studies have been conducted to investigate this association. Additionally, very little data exists on the prevalence of T. gondii in the general Australian population. Our group sought to determine the prevalence, association, and risk factors between T. gondii infection and T2DM from a representative Australian human population. Through a cross-sectional, age- and gender-matched case-control study, 150 subjects with T2DM together with 150 control subjects from the Busselton Health Study cohort were investigated. Sera samples were tested for the presence of anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Survey-derived data were also analyzed to evaluate associated risk factors. The IgG seroprevalence was found to be 62% and 66% for the T2DM and control groups, respectively (OR:0.84; p=0.471). IgM antibodies were detected in 5% of the T2DM patients and in 10% of the controls (OR=0.51; p=0.135). There were no significant differences between male and female IgG seroprevalence rates for both groups (OR:0.88, 0.80; p=0.723). The IgG seropositivity rate increased significantly in T2DM patients aged 45-84 years in comparison to those aged 18-44 years (p<0.05), but this was not observed in the control subjects. No risk factors were associated with T. gondii seropositivity in both groups. The first Australian study of its kind found T. gondii infection in Western Australia to be highly prevalent. The results also showed that there is no serological evidence of an association between T. gondii infection and T2DM in the studied subjects. Australian health authorities should focus on raising awareness of toxoplasma infection and target T. gondii transmission control. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of T. gondii in T2DM.
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spelling doaj-art-75a70a8b21654ba7b83bfa047d02bd382025-08-20T03:35:22ZengWileyJournal of Parasitology Research2090-00232090-00312020-01-01202010.1155/2020/31429183142918First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health StudyAus Molan0Kazunori Nosaka1Michael Hunter2Jinxia Zhang3Xiaoni Meng4Manshu Song5Wei Wang6School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, AustraliaSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, AustraliaBusselton Population Medical Research Institute, Busselton, WA 6280, AustraliaKey Municipal Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, ChinaKey Municipal Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, ChinaSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, AustraliaSchool of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, AustraliaAn emerging field of research is starting to examine the association of infectious pathogens with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). An understudied parasite of interest is Toxoplasma gondii. Globally, very few studies have been conducted to investigate this association. Additionally, very little data exists on the prevalence of T. gondii in the general Australian population. Our group sought to determine the prevalence, association, and risk factors between T. gondii infection and T2DM from a representative Australian human population. Through a cross-sectional, age- and gender-matched case-control study, 150 subjects with T2DM together with 150 control subjects from the Busselton Health Study cohort were investigated. Sera samples were tested for the presence of anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Survey-derived data were also analyzed to evaluate associated risk factors. The IgG seroprevalence was found to be 62% and 66% for the T2DM and control groups, respectively (OR:0.84; p=0.471). IgM antibodies were detected in 5% of the T2DM patients and in 10% of the controls (OR=0.51; p=0.135). There were no significant differences between male and female IgG seroprevalence rates for both groups (OR:0.88, 0.80; p=0.723). The IgG seropositivity rate increased significantly in T2DM patients aged 45-84 years in comparison to those aged 18-44 years (p<0.05), but this was not observed in the control subjects. No risk factors were associated with T. gondii seropositivity in both groups. The first Australian study of its kind found T. gondii infection in Western Australia to be highly prevalent. The results also showed that there is no serological evidence of an association between T. gondii infection and T2DM in the studied subjects. Australian health authorities should focus on raising awareness of toxoplasma infection and target T. gondii transmission control. Further studies are needed to clarify the role of T. gondii in T2DM.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/3142918
spellingShingle Aus Molan
Kazunori Nosaka
Michael Hunter
Jinxia Zhang
Xiaoni Meng
Manshu Song
Wei Wang
First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study
Journal of Parasitology Research
title First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study
title_full First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study
title_fullStr First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study
title_full_unstemmed First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study
title_short First Age- and Gender-Matched Case-Control Study in Australia Examining the Possible Association between Toxoplasma gondii Infection and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: The Busselton Health Study
title_sort first age and gender matched case control study in australia examining the possible association between toxoplasma gondii infection and type 2 diabetes mellitus the busselton health study
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/3142918
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