Objective

The ability of parasites to hijack the nervous system, manipulating the host’s physiology and behavior in ways that enhance the parasite’s fitness while damaging host fitness, is a topic of ongoing research interest in evolutionary biology, but is largely overlooked in mental health research. Nevertheless, recent evidence has shown that Toxoplasma gondii infection can change host testosterone levels and influence the development of some psychiatric disorders. Here, we tested this hypothesis in a mixed sample of 213 non-clinical subjects.

Methods

Participants (n_males = 108, n_females = 105) provided 5 ml of blood to quantify testosterone levels and Toxoplasma gondii antibodies. The Symptom Checklist-90-Revised was used to assess psychopathological symptoms.

Results

The results showed that Toxoplasma-infected men had higher testosterone levels and scored higher in Interpersonal Sensitivity and Psychoticism symptoms than non-infected men. Toxoplasma-infected women did not differ from control women.

Conclusions

Framed in an evolutionary framework, the findings suggest that the elevated testosterone levels and the expression of psychopathological symptoms can be seen as the result of the manipulation exerted by Toxoplasma gondii either to reach its definitive host or to increase its spread. Future research can benefit from integrating insights from evolutionary biology and parasite-host interactions with physiology, immunology, and mental health to develop a better understanding of mental health etiology.

中文翻译：

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弓形虫和精神病理学：潜伏感染与人际交往敏感性，精神病和男性较高的睾丸激素水平相关，但女性不相关

客观的

寄生虫劫持神经系统，操纵宿主的生理和行为以增强寄生虫的适应能力同时损害宿主的适应能力的能力，是进化生物学研究的一个热门话题，但在心理健康研究中却被大大忽略了。尽管如此，最近的证据表明，弓形虫感染可以改变宿主睾丸激素水平并影响某些精神疾病的发展。在这里，我们在213个非临床受试者的混合样本中测试了该假设。

方法

参与者（n位_男性= 108，n位_女性= 105）提供了5 ml血液以定量睾丸激素水平和弓形虫抗体。症状清单-90-修订版用于评估心理病理症状。

结果

结果表明，与未感染男性相比，弓形虫感染男性的睾丸激素水平更高，人际交往敏感性和精神病症状得分更高。弓形虫感染的女性与对照女性没有区别。

结论

在进化框架内，研究结果表明，升高的睾丸激素水平和精神病理症状的表达可以被视为弓形虫为达到其最终宿主或扩大其传播所施加的操纵的结果。整合进化生物学和寄生虫-宿主相互作用与生理学，免疫学和心理健康的见解，可以对心理健康的病因学有更好的了解，从而使未来的研究受益。