Folia Parasitologica 71:016 (2024) | DOI: 10.14411/fp.2024.016

Special Issue: The linking of toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia

Edwin Fuller Torrey ORCID...1
The Associate Director for Research at the Stanley Medical Research Institute, Rockville, Maryland, USA, and the author of Parasites, Pussycats and Psychosis: The Unknown Dangers of Human Toxoplasmosis *Address for correspondence: The Stanley Medical Research Institute, 9800 Medical Center, Suite C-050, Rockville, MD 20850. E-mail: torreyf@stanleyresearch.org; 0000-0002-1231-5291

Toxoplasmosis is caused by Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908), a coccidian protist (Apicomplexa). It has a strong predilection for infecting the central nervous system. Researchers have therefore investigated its association with several neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, bipolar disorder, cerebral palsy, depression, Guillain-Barre syndrome, multiple sclerosis, obsessive compulsive disorder, Parkinson's disease, personality disorders, and schizophrenia. Among these disorders the strongest evidence for a role of T. gondii exists for psychosis in general and schizophrenia in particular. This paper reviews the origins of this association, briefly summarises the current evidence in support, and discusses future research strategies.

Keywords: Cats, brain cysts, epidemiology

Received: April 20, 2024; Accepted: July 12, 2024; Published online: September 10, 2024  Show citation

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Fuller Torrey, E. (2024). Special Issue: The linking of toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia. Folia Parasitologica, 71, Article 2024.016. https://doi.org/10.14411/fp.2024.016

This article is part of Special Issue,  Effects of Latent Toxoplasmosis: Three Decades of Studies.

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