Published April 3, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article Open

SEROPREVALENCE OF TOXOCARA SPP AMONG EPILEPTIC PATIENTS IN IRAQ/BASRA

Creators

  • 1. Department of Microbiology , Basra Medical College ,University of Basra, Basra /Iraq
  • 2. Department of Pediatrics, Basra Medical College. University of Basra , Basra/ Iraq
  • 3. Department of Microbiology, Basra Medical College , University of Basra, Basra/ Iraq

Description

To study  seroprevalence of Toxocara  antibody Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and epidemiological risk factors as well as assessment  the immunological pattern including cytokines, interleukin-6  (IL6) and  interleukin-10 (IL-10) and immunoglobulin E (IgE) among epileptic patients in Basra province . Subjects and Methods: Forty seven epileptic patients, their ages range from 2.5 - 45 years (22 females and 25 males)  and 109 apparently healthy volunteers  as  a control group with ages range between 2 - 80 years (59 females and 50 males ) were enrolled in this study. The study was done during the period from  December 2017 to November 2018 at    The Pediatric and Neurology Consulting Clinic   of Basra Teaching Hospital. The risk and epidemiologic factors  were  assessed   by  a special questionnaire  which    was  completed   by  the patients  themselves    or   their   relative. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and cytokines were assessed by using ELISA while IgE by immunoturbidimetric    assay by  using the Abbott ARCHITECT c System for every epileptic patient as well as control group. Results: Sixteen (34.04%)  of epileptic patients were seropositive for Toxocara antibody (IgG ) in comparison with 2 (1.83%) of control group with significant difference between them (p=0.0001). There was no significant association between seropositive   and seronegative epileptic patients in regard to characteristic features of the studied population (sex and age) and risk factors (residence, exposure to soil,  animal ownership, presence of home garden, onychophagia, thumb sucking, medicine intake, family history, duration of epilepsy  and occupation) except geophagia . But interestingly, there were   elevated in risk ratio  for 5 variables    including onychophagia (1.7), thumb sucking (2.1), geophagia (3.4), medication intake (1.1) and family history (1.7), when it is evaluated by Chi-squared “Fisher exact test” (risk ratio >1). The immunological assessments  reveal an elevation IgE and IL-10 level in seropositive group in comparison seronegative group  without a significant difference, while IL-6  concentration is elevated in theseronegative group.  Conclusion: In epileptic patients in Basra province, infection with Toxocara spp may play role as  a risk factor for idiopathic epilepsy. Risk factors such as onychophagia,  geophagia, thumb sucking, medication intake and family history may increase risk infection with Toxocara spp in epileptic patients. Also toxocariasis may  lead to elevation of  IgE and IL-10 levels in these patients but it appears has a weak influence on concentration of IL-6.

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References

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