Toxoplasma gondii IgG Serointensity Is Positively Associated With Frailty

Hira Mohyuddin; Blanca Laffon; João P Teixeira; Solange Costa; Armanda Teixeira-Gomes; Eduardo Pásaro; Niel Constantine; Aline Dagdag; Heidi K Ortmeyer; Boris Tizenberg; Liubov Afram; Poyu Yen; Christopher Marano; Christopher A Lowry; Andrew J Hoisington; Jill A RachBeisel; Vanessa Valdiglesias; Carlota Lema-Arranz; Natalia Fernández-Bertólez; Ana Maseda; José C Millán-Calenti; Elizabeth J Kovacs; Johanna M Gostner; Dietmar Fuchs; Lisa A Brenner; Laura Lorenzo-López; Teodor T Postolache

doi:10.1093/gerona/glad228

Toxoplasma gondii IgG Serointensity Is Positively Associated With Frailty

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024 Mar 1;79(3):glad228. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glad228.

Authors

Hira Mohyuddin^{1

2}, Blanca Laffon^{3

4}, João P Teixeira^{5

6}, Solange Costa^{5

6}, Armanda Teixeira-Gomes^{6

7}, Eduardo Pásaro^{3

4}, Niel Constantine⁸, Aline Dagdag¹, Heidi K Ortmeyer^{9

10}, Boris Tizenberg¹, Liubov Afram¹, Poyu Yen¹, Christopher Marano¹, Christopher A Lowry^{11

12}, Andrew J Hoisington^{12

13}, Jill A RachBeisel¹, Vanessa Valdiglesias^{4

14}, Carlota Lema-Arranz^{3

4}, Natalia Fernández-Bertólez^{4

14}, Ana Maseda¹⁵, José C Millán-Calenti¹⁵, Elizabeth J Kovacs^{12

16}, Johanna M Gostner¹⁷, Dietmar Fuchs¹⁸, Lisa A Brenner^{12

19}, Laura Lorenzo-López¹⁵, Teodor T Postolache^{1

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
² Psychiatry Residency Training Program, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
³ 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.
⁴ Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Oza, A Coruña, Spain.
⁵ Environment Health Department, National Institute of Health Dr Ricardo Jorge, Porto, Portugal.
⁶ EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁷ School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁸ Institute of Human Virology and Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
⁹ Baltimore VA Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
¹¹ Department of Integrative Physiology, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience, and Center for Microbial Exploration, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
¹² VA Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), Aurora, Colorado, USA.
¹³ Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.
¹⁴ Universidade da Coruña, Grupo NanoToxGen, CICA-Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus A Zapateira s/n, A Coruña, Spain.
¹⁵ 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.
¹⁶ Department of Surgery, Division of GI, Trauma and Endocrine Surgery, Alcohol Research Program, Burn Research Program, University of Colorado Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, ColoradoUSA.
¹⁷ Institute of Medical Biochemistry, Biocenter, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
¹⁸ Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biocenter, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
¹⁹ Departments of Psychiatry, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Neurology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA.

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.

Keywords: Chronic toxoplasmosis; Inflammaging; Kynurenine to tryptophan ratio; sTNF-RII.

MeSH terms

Aged
Antibodies, Protozoan
Biomarkers
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Frailty*
Humans
Immunoglobulin G
Immunoglobulin M
Male
Risk Factors
Toxoplasma*
Toxoplasmosis*

Substances

Immunoglobulin G
Antibodies, Protozoan
Biomarkers
Immunoglobulin M

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

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