Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 12 1 2017 02 27 117 122 Ebrahim ABDOLLAHIAN Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Reza SHAFIEI Vector-Borne Diseases Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran AND Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Naghmeh MOKHBER Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Kurosh KALANTAR Dept. of Immunology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Abdolmajid FATA Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran AND Research Center for Skin Diseases and Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Emam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 2017 02 27 2017 02 27 Background: Psychiatric patients have an increased risk of some infections like toxoplasmosis. Investigations on Toxoplasma gondii infection among psychiatric patients have been limited in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran. In this case-control study, prevalence of T. gondii was investigated by serological method. Methods: This case-control study was performed among psychiatric patients admitted to Avicenna Hospital in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran. Three hundred and fifty inpatients and 350 controls were examined in 2012-2013 for detection of IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii in their blood sera by ELISA. Socio-demographic and clinical manifestations of the patients were obtained. Results: Anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies was found in 164 (46.85%) of 350 psychiatric inpatients and 120 (34.28%) of 350 controls. Seventeen (4.85%) of psychiatric individuals and 3 (0.85%) of control group were IgM+/IgG- indicating acute form of toxoplasmosis. There were no statistically significant differences between the case and control groups. In patient group, schizophrenic patients had the highest positive rate (46.28%) and bipolar mood disorder had the second most prevalent rate (20%). Of 162 schizophrenia patients, 65 (40.1%) had latent infection which was higher than that observed in controls. Conclusion: The prevalence of T. gondii infection among psychiatric patients suffering from schizophrenia was more in Mashhad, compared with control group. https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/1525 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/1525/680