Toxoplasma gondii as a possible risk factor for COVID-19 severity: a case-control study

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-132
Author(s):  
Shaimaa A. Sharaf-El-Deen ◽  
Fatma H. Shalan ◽  
Mohammed A. Agha ◽  
Reham M. Brakat
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factor ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Common Complication ◽  
Chronic Infections ◽  
Immune Exhaustion ◽  
Programmed Death ◽  
Programmed Death 1 ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Control Study

Background: COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic that stroke almost all countries of the world causing thousands of deaths and disabilities and burdened the economy of countries. One of the main criteria of the immune response against COVID-19 is the “immune exhaustion”, due to increased expression of T cell suppressor molecules e.g. programmed death-1 (PD-1), that leads to flaring of viral multiplication and disastrous clinical outcomes. This immune exhaustion is not restricted to COVID-19 but is also a common complication of chronic infections with the widely spreading protozoan, Toxoplasma (T.) gondii. Thus, theoretically, the toxoplasmosis-associated immune exhaustion can worsen that of COVID-19 and consequently increases its severity. However, the studies on this theory are still insufficient. Objective: this work was designed to answer two questions. Does T. gondii co-infection affect the severity of COVID-19 manifestations? Is this action related to T. gondii-induced PD-1 changes? Methodology: Covid-19+ patients with moderate and severe conditions were screened for T. gondii IgG and compared to healthy controls. Serum levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNFα, IFNγ, IL-1α cytokines were assessed to evaluate COVID-19 severity and prognosis. Lymphocytic expression of PD-1 was assessed by flowcytometry. Results: We recorded a higher incidence of toxoplasmosis among COVID-19 patients especially patients with severe/critical manifestations. T. gondii positive cases exhibited a statistically significant increase in lymphocytic expression of PD-1 that correlated positively with the proinflammatory and bad prognosis cytokines. With fixation of other risk factors for severity, toxoplasmosis still scored a significant value. Conclusion: toxoplasmosis increased the severity of COVID-19. These effects can be related to the Toxoplasmaassociated increased lymphocytic PD-1 expression. So, toxoplasmosis can be considered as an unrecognized independent risk factor for COVID-19 severity.

scholarly journals Risk factors for pneumonitis in patients treated with anti-programmed death-1 therapy: A case-control study

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 4115-4120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pengfei Cui ◽  
Zhefeng Liu ◽  
Guoqiang Wang ◽  
Junxun Ma ◽  
Yuanyu Qian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Programmed Death ◽  
Programmed Death 1 ◽  
Control Study

Risk factors for pneumonitis in solid tumors treated with anti-programmed death-1 therapy: A case-control study.

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e15132-e15132
Author(s):  
Pengfei Cui ◽  
Zhefeng Liu ◽  
Guoqiang Wang ◽  
Junxun Ma ◽  
Yuanyu Qian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Solid Tumors ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Programmed Death ◽  
Programmed Death 1 ◽  
Control Study

scholarly journals Organochlorine pesticide exposure as a risk factor for breast cancer in young Indian women: A case–control study

2019 ◽  
Vol 08 (04) ◽  
pp. 212-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Navneet Kaur ◽  
Srikant K Swain ◽  
Basudev D Banerjee ◽  
Tusha Sharma ◽  
Thammineni Krishnalata
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Risk Factor ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Pesticide Exposure ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Younger Women ◽  
Control Study

Abstract Background: Incidence rates of breast cancer are showing an increasing trend in young women (≤40 years) in India. Risk for breast cancer in this age group can be attributed only partially to various known risk factors. Environmental exposure to organochlorine (OC) compounds has been identified as a potential risk factor. However, the possible role of OC compounds in increasing breast cancer risk in young women has not been explored. This case–control study was planned with the objectives to assess the serum levels of OC compound in a North Indian population of young women. Materials and Methods: Forty-two patients of breast cancer ≤ 40 years age and 42 age-matched controls were evaluated for exposure to OC compounds by performing assays in blood samples for pesticides such as dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites DDD and DDE; dieldrin; aldrin; methoxychlor, heptachlor; α-endosulfan; β-endosulfan; and hexachlorocyclohexane and its isomers (α, β, and γ). Results: Young women with breast cancer were found to have significantly higher serum levels of all the OC compounds except aldrin, p, p’ DDT, and methoxychlor. Conclusions: Exposure to OC pesticides could be an important modifiable risk factor for breast cancer, especially in younger women.

Anti muellerian hormone serum levels in women with endometriosis: A case-control study

2009 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Shebl ◽  
Thomas Ebner ◽  
Michael Sommergruber ◽  
Andreas Sir ◽  
Gernot Tews
Keyword(s):  
Case Control Study ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Control Study

Dietary and serum vitamin D and preeclampsia risk in Chinese pregnant women: a matched case–control study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Xue-min Huang ◽  
Yan-hua Liu ◽  
Han Zhang ◽  
Yuan Cao ◽  
Wei-feng Dou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Dietary Intake ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Case Control Study ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Serum Concentrations ◽  
Matched Case ◽  
Matched Case Control Study ◽  
Control Study

Abstract The effect of vitamin D (VD) on the risk of preeclampsia (PE) is uncertain. Few of previous studies focused on the relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk. Therefore, we conducted this 1:1 matched case-control study to explore the association of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk in Chinese pregnant women. A total of 440 pairs of participants were recruited during March 2016 to June 2019. Dietary information was obtained using a 78-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 were measured by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Multivariate conditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Restricted cubic splines (RCS) were plotted to evaluate the dose-response relationship of dietary VD intake and serum VD concentrations with PE risk. Compared with the lowest quartile, the ORs of the highest quartile were 0.45 (95%CI: 0.29-0.71, Ptrend = 0.001) for VD dietary intake and 0.26 (95%CI: 0.11-0.60, Ptrend = 0.003) for serum levels after adjusting for confounders. In addition, the RCS analysis suggested a reverse J-shaped relationship between dietary VD intake and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0.02). A similar association was also found between serum concentrations of total 25(OH)D and PE risk (P-nonlinearity = 0.02). In conclusion, this study provides evidence that higher dietary intake and serum levels of VD are associated with the lower risk of PE in Chinese pregnant women.

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