Hi paul.fr,
I may be boring and repetitive, but I keep thinking that occult infections are being re-evaluated these days as a major cause of diseases of uncertain etiology.
May be only in a restricted number of patients, still this is very interesting and quite exciting!
Toxoplasma is one of the highly suspected 'invisible enemies' and perhaps my favourite one.
Epilepsy and Toxoplasma give 34 citations on PubMed today.
Starting from 1969...so it's not a new thing, but something suspected and then left there for lack of 'evidence'. It happened many times in medical research.
I post the most recent, and this deals with "meta-analysis", today's gold standard in clinical medicine to put together good evidence from separated studies:
Meta-analysis of three case controlled studies and an ecological study
into the link between cryptogenic epilepsy and chronic toxoplasmosis infection.
Palmer BS.
Barts & The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of London, United Kingdom.
A meta-analysis was performed on three case controlled studies which examined the relationship between latent toxoplasmosis gondii infection in the immunocompetent host and cryptogenic epilepsy. Further comparison was also made by examining the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis rates for 17 various countries, cities or regions against the prevalence rates for epilepsy in those regions.
RESULTS: The results for the meta-analysis showed a log-odds ratio of 4.8 which approximates to a similar relative risk, (CI 2.6 to 7.8), with CI for all three studies being above 1. Seroprevalence rates for toxoplasmosis and prevalence rates of epilepsy showed a strong association (p<0.001).
DISCUSSION: The prevalence of toxoplasmosis is an important factor in the prevalence of epilepsy with a probable link in the cryptogenic epilepsies. An area with a reduced burden of toxoplasmosis will also have a reduced burden of epilepsy. Neuropathophysiology findings from various studies show a common physical relationship of microglial nodule formation in Toxoplasma gondii infection and epilepsy. This analysis raises the possibility that one of the many causes of epilepsy may be an infectious agent, or that cryptogenic epilepsy may be a consequence of latent toxoplasmosis infection. This raises the possibility that public health measures to reduce toxoplasmosis infection may also result in a reduction in epilepsy.
Seizure. 2007 Jun 27; [Epub ahead of print]
Of course this cannot be the only cause of epilepsy, but offers new hints of investigation and may be a promise for practical applications in a short time.
We discussed some of these issues in a special topic right here:
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=6657.0
...over 2000 viewers since last Feb. is not so bad.
ikod [^]
...and could carbamazepine affect 'occult pathogen' behaviour?
it's still a mystery to me! [;D]
Pure speculation my friends.
And what about this?
That's reeeally neat!
Me like this stuff:
Drugs used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
inhibit the replication of Toxoplasma gondii.
Jones-Brando L, Torrey EF, Yolken R.
Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N. Wolfe Street/Blalock 1149, Baltimore, MD 21287-4933, USA. lbrando@jhmi.edu
The exact mechanisms of action of some antipsychotics and mood stabilizers have not been elucidated. Response to these medications can vary among individuals. Recent studies indicate that infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii may contribute to the symptoms of schizophrenia in some individuals.
We investigated commonly used antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medications for their ability to inhibit the replication of this organism.We employed a system for testing compounds for in vitro activity against T. gondii. Human fibroblasts (HFF) were treated with test compounds and then exposed to Toxoplasma that has been genetically modified to express cytoplasmic beta-galactosidase. Inhibition by the drugs was determined by spectrophotometric analysis of colorimetric reactions.We tested 12 neuroleptic compounds and found that of these, the antipsychotic haloperidol and the mood stabilizer valproic acid most effectively inhibit Toxoplasma growth in vitro. Valproic acid inhibited the parasite at a concentration below that found in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood of individuals being treated with this medication and displayed synergistic activity with haloperidol and with trimethoprim, an antibiotic commonly used to treat Toxoplasma infections.Several medications used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have the ability to inhibit the in vitro replication of T. gondii.
Schizophr Res. 2003 Aug 1;62(3):237-44.
Now, just for fun, could vitamin D3
from cod liver oil help alleviating
a chronic Toxoplasma infection?
As usual, the 'evidence' is weak...
but towards a positive effect.
wow
1,25(OH)2D3 inhibits in vitro and in vivo intracellular growth of apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii.
Rajapakse R, Uring-Lambert B, Andarawewa KL, Rajapakse RP, Abou-Bacar A, Marcellin L, Candolfi E.
Institut de Parasitologie et de Pathologie et Tropicale, de la Faculte de Medecine, EA 3950 Interactions Cellulaires et Moleculaires Hote-Parasite, 3 rue Koeberle, 67000 Strasbourg, France.
The hormonal form of vitamin D, 1,25-dyhydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3), is implicated in a wide range of functions other than its classical role in calcium and phosphorous homeostasis.
When Toxoplasma gondii-infected BALB/c mice were treated with 1,25(OH)2D3, they succumb to death sooner than their counterparts. But they showed less parasite burden in tissues which was further supported by mild pathological lesions. As an effort to understand the physiological mechanism for the above observation an in vitro study was performed. Fewer parasites were observed when 1,25(OH)2D3 pre-treated murine intestinal epithelial cells were challenged with parasites. Moreover, the observed inhibition was dose-dependent and had a maximum effect with 10(-7)M of 1,25(OH)2D3. However, no observable difference was observed, when pre-incubated parasites were added to cells suggesting that the observed inhibition was a result of an effect from 1,25(OH)2D3 on Toxoplasma intracellular growth.
Our data support the notion that 1,25(OH)2D3 may inhibit intra cellular T. gondii parasite proliferation in vivo and in vitro.
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007 Jan 30; [Epub ahead of print]
I begin to think that, perhaps only in a certain percentage
of psychiatric patients, hidden Toxoplasma infection
could contribute to neurologic symptoms and some people
might benefit from long-term anti-Toxoplasma treatment.
Hidden, chronic, paucisymptomatic* and persistent
infections by common pathogens had been quite
underestimated so far.
(see the Helicobacter story in "New cancer theory")
But this is a new century...
* Che?...sorry, I learned
English from a book!
from: Manuel BBC - Fawlty Towers
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iptv.org%2Ffriends%2Fbritcom%2Fimages%2FFawltyGasp.jpg&hash=721c8b217d59dfd49cc52d33e1e777b7)
http://www.iptv.org/friends/britcom/images/FawltyGasp.jpg