Research Article
Eman Z Younis1* and Adela H El
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an important opportunistic parasite in immune compromised hosts like Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients. On other hand, diabetes is a systemic disease which affects the immune system, diabetes mellitus is an increasing problem in our country today and diabetics have been reported to be immunocompromised. Hence, detection and monitoring of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies are of a great interest in Diabetes Mellitus (DM) patients. Aim: To identify the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Type 2 diabetic Patients using ELISA methods in Benghazi, Libya. Settings and Design: A case control study of Type 2 diabetic patients was conducted at Benghazi diabetic and endocrine centre between August to November 2016. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and fifty serum samples including 200 from diabetic Type 2 patients (125 Female and 75 Male) and fifty samples from healthy nondiabetics (32 Female and 18 Male) were used as a control group. A total of 250 blood samples were taken from individuals aged from 18 to<51 years. The Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), were used to detect Levels of IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in the patients' sera. Cases and controls were matched for detection of Toxoplasma (Ab) with demographic parameter such as gender, age, abortion and the presence of wild animals especially cats. Statistical Analysis: Statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 17; SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). Results: The overall Prevalence of infection with Toxoplasma gondii among Type 2 diabetic patients [IgM=21 (10.5%), IgG=83 (41.5%) and IgA=7 (3.5%)] was higher than non-diabetics individual group [IgM=(4%), IgG=(24%) and IgA=(0%)].