Toxoplasma gondii IgG Serointensity Is Positively Associated With Frailty

Hira Mohyuddin, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Blanca Laffon, Universidade da Coruña, Grupo DICOMOSA, CICA-Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Campus Elviña s/n, A Coruña, Spain.
João P. Teixeira, Environment Health Department, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Porto, Portugal.
Solange Costa, Environment Health Department, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Porto, Portugal.
Armanda Teixeira-Gomes, EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Eduardo Pásaro, Universidade da Coruña, Grupo DICOMOSA, CICA-Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Campus Elviña s/n, A Coruña, Spain.
Niel Constantine, Institute of Human Virology and Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Aline Dagdag, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Heidi K. Ortmeyer, Baltimore VA Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Boris Tizenberg, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Liubov Afram, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Poyu Yen, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Christopher Marano, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Christopher A. Lowry, Department of Integrative Physiology, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience, and Center for Microbial Exploration, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Andrew J. Hoisington, VA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Jill A. RachBeisel, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Vanessa Valdiglesias, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Oza, A Coruña, Spain.
Carlota Lema-Arranz, Universidade da Coruña, Grupo DICOMOSA, CICA-Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Campus Elviña s/n, A Coruña, Spain.
Natalia Fernández-Bertólez, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Oza, A Coruña, Spain.
Ana Maseda, Universidade da Coruña, Gerontology and Geriatrics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña (CHUAC), Servizo Galego de Saúde (SERGAS), A Coruña, Spain.
José C. Millán-Calenti, Universidade da Coruña, Gerontology and Geriatrics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña (CHUAC), Servizo Galego de Saúde (SERGAS), A Coruña, Spain.
Elizabeth J. Kovacs, VA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Johanna M. Gostner, Institute of Medical Biochemistry, Biocenter, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
Dietmar Fuchs, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biocenter, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
Lisa A. Brenner, VA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Aurora, Colorado, USA.
Laura Lorenzo-López, Universidade da Coruña, Gerontology and Geriatrics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña (CHUAC), Servizo Galego de Saúde (SERGAS), A Coruña, Spain.
Teodor T. Postolache, Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

11-6-2023

Journal

The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences

DOI

10.1093/gerona/glad228

Keywords

Chronic toxoplasmosis; Inflammaging; Kynurenine to tryptophan ratio; sTNF-RII

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Persistent inflammation related to aging ("inflammaging") is exacerbated by chronic infections and contributes to frailty in older adults. We hypothesized associations between Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), a common parasite causing an oligosymptomatic unremitting infection, and frailty, and secondarily between T. gondii and previously reported markers of immune activation in frailty. METHODS: We analyzed available demographic, social, and clinical data in Spanish and Portuguese older adults [N = 601; age: mean (SD) 77.3 (8.0); 61% women]. Plasma T. gondii immunoglobulin G (IgG) serointensity was measured with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The Fried criteria were used to define frailty status. Validated translations of Mini-Mental State Examination, Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Charlson Comorbidity Index were used to evaluate confounders. Previously analyzed biomarkers that were significantly associated with frailty in both prior reports and the current study, and also related to T. gondii serointensity, were further accounted for in multivariable logistic models with frailty as outcome. RESULTS: In T. gondii-seropositives, there was a significant positive association between T. gondii IgG serointensity and frailty, accounting for age (p = .0002), and resisting adjustment for multiple successive confounders. Among biomarkers linked with frailty, kynurenine/tryptophan and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor II were positively associated with T. gondii serointensity in seropositives (p < .05). Associations with other biomarkers were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: This first reported association between T. gondii and frailty is limited by a cross-sectional design and warrants replication. While certain biomarkers of inflammaging were associated with both T. gondii IgG serointensity and frailty, they did not fully mediate the T. gondii-frailty association.

Department

School of Medicine and Health Sciences Resident Works

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