Talk:Toxoplasma gondii

Missing citations.

Don't know how to add superscript footnote references to the main page, but the (only) reference to the claim that Haloperidol inhibits toxo in cell culture is : Jones-Brando L, Torrey EF, Yolken R. Drugs used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder inhibit the replication of Toxoplasma gondii. Schizophr Res. 2003 Aug 1;62(3):237-44. PMID: 12837520

It looks like the fifth reference, the one for infection rates in various countries, is missing.

The numbers seem about right, though 88% is on the high end for France.

Cleanup of external links

I cleaned up the external links (see WP:EXT). I removed the following individual articles, which might still be useful as references:

• Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence varies by cat breed PLOS One 2017
• Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Consequences of Chronic Toxoplasma Infection ISSN 2196-5471, 2015
• Cytoskeletal Components of an Invasion Machine – The Apical Complex of Toxoplasma gondii
• The Culture-Shaping Parasites, in Seed Magazine
• Sneaky Parasite Attracts Rats to Cats, All Things Considered, April 14, 2007
• Toxoplasma lecture, Robert Sapolsky Archived 2016-07-31 at the Wayback Machine
• Could a brain parasite found in cats help soccer teams win at the World Cup?, – By Patrick House – Slate Magazine
• How Your Cat Is Making You Crazy, the Atlantic Magazine, March 2012
• Mystery Marine Mammal Deaths, CosmosMagazine.com, June 2008
• Toxoplasma gondii in the Subarctic and Arctic
• Okusaga O, Postolache TT (2012). "19. Toxoplasma gondii, the Immune System, and Suicidal Behaviour". In Dwivedi Y (ed.). The Neurobiological Basis of Suicide. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4398-3881-5. PMID 23035283.

I left the blog, which might be borderline keep (reputable author, but no new content) Nuretok (talk) 09:37, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

Lede needs work

The last paragraphs of the lede are repetitive and vaguely conflicting in what they claim. I think it may be due to edits that occurred long ago vs newer information that's been added. I'd try fixing them myself, but I'm nowhere near qualified to do it without breaking it, either in wording it wrong or in breaking refs. Needs a more expert touch:

Mild, flu-like symptoms occasionally occur during the first few weeks following exposure; otherwise, symptoms are not readily observable in healthy human adults.[18][15][4]: 77  This asymptomatic state of infection is referred to as a latent infection, and it has recently been associated with numerous subtle, yet adverse or pathological, behavioral alterations in humans,[18][21] though some newer studies found this association to be weak and concluded:

"On the whole, there was little evidence that T. gondii was related to increased risk of psychiatric disorder, poor impulse control, personality aberrations or neurocognitive impairment." [22]

A number of studies have suggested that subtle behavioral or personality changes may occur in infected humans,[23] and infection with the parasite has recently been associated with a number of neurological disorders – particularly schizophrenia[9] and bipolar disorder.[24][25] A 2015 study also found cognitive deficits in adults to be associated with joint infection by both T. gondii and Helicobacter pylori in a regression model with controls for race-ethnicity and educational attainment.[26] Although a causal relationship between latent toxoplasmosis with these neurological phenomena has not yet been established,[18][9] preliminary evidence suggests that T. gondii infection may induce some of the same alterations in the human brain as those observed in mice.[27][28]"

Anastrophe (talk) 00:42, 5 December 2021 (UTC)

Unconfirmed source of parasite

Lifecycle claims the sexual component is found only in cats

Lifecycle

The lifecycle of T. gondii may be broadly summarized into two components: a sexual component that occurs only within cats (felids, wild or domestic), and an asexual component that can occur within virtually all warm-blooded animals, including humans, cats, and birds.

Here it says a cat catches it from a mouse:

Sexual reproduction in the feline definitive host

When a feline is infected with T. gondii (e.g. by consuming an infected mouse carrying the parasite's tissue cysts), the parasite survives passage through the stomach, eventually infecting epithelial cells of the cat's small intestine.

IS this back track-able? Should the underlined part have a citation? Should the part saying "only in cats" change to include mice or be modified to say mice instead of cats?eARTspI . TOK . 3bs 15:16, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

"one of the only hosts"

This doesn't make sense. It should read "one of the few hosts", "one of the only two or three hosts", or "the only host". Which is it? 142.163.195.114 (talk) 18:40, 2 June 2024 (UTC)