TY - JOUR AU - Reeves, Gloria AU - Postolache, Teodor AU - Mazaheri, Sara AU - Snitker, Soren AU - Langenberg, Patricia AU - Giegling, Ina AU - Hartmann, Annette AU - Konte, Bettina AU - Friedl, Marion AU - Okusaga, Olaoluwa AU - Groer, Maureen AU - Mangee, Harald AU - Weghuber, Daniel AU - Allison, David AU - Rujescu, Dan PY - 2013 M3 - Original Research TI - A Positive Association between T. gondii Seropositivity and Obesity JO - Frontiers in Public Health UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2013.00073 VL - 1 SN - 2296-2565 N2 - Obesity is a global public health problem that is linked with morbidity, mortality, and functional limitations and has limited options for sustained interventions. Novel targets for prevention and intervention require further research into the pathogenesis of obesity. Consistently, elevated markers of inflammation have been reported in association with obesity, but their causes and consequences are not well understood. An emerging field of research has investigated the association of infections and environmental pathogens with obesity, potential causes of low grade inflammation that may mediate obesity risk. In this study, we estimate the possible association between Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection and obesity in a sample of 999 psychiatrically healthy adults. Individuals with psychiatric conditions, including personality disorders, were excluded because of the association between positive serology to T. gondii and various forms of serious mental illness that have a strong association with obesity. In our sample, individuals with positive T. gondii serology had twice the odds of being obese compared to seronegative individuals (pā€‰=ā€‰0.01). Further, individuals who were obese had significant higher T. gondii IgG titers compared to individuals who were non-obese. Latent T. gondii infection is very common worldwide, so potential public health interventions related to this parasite can have a high impact on associated health concerns. ER -