Evidence of increased exposure to Toxoplasma gondii in individuals with recent onset psychosis but not with established schizophrenia. - PubMed - NCBI

A possible role for Toxoplasma gondii in the etiopathogenesis of
schizophrenia is supported by epidemiological studies and animal models
of infection. However, recent studies attempting to link Toxoplasma to
schizophrenia have yielded mixed results. We performed a nested
case-control study measured serological evidence of exposure to
Toxoplasma gondii in a cohort of 2052 individuals. Within this cohort, a
total of 1481 individuals had a psychiatric disorder and 571 of were
controls without a psychiatric disorder. We found an increased odds of
Toxoplasma exposure in individuals with a recent onset of psychosis (OR
2.44, 95% Confidence Interval 1.4-4.4, p < .003). On the other hand,
an increased odds of Toxoplasma exposure was not found in individuals
with schizophrenia or other psychiatric disorder who did not have a
recent onset of psychosis. By identifying the timing of evaluation as a
variable, these findings resolve discrepancies in previous studies and
suggest a temporal relationship between Toxoplasma exposure and disease
onset.