Current Research in Medical Sciences

en Protective effect of latent Toxoplasma infection against breast cancer risk: a comparative cross-sectional study in Iran انگل شناسی انگل شناسی پژوهشی اصیل Original Article Background and Objective: Some evidence suggested that Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, might have an inhibitory effect on cancers development. Methods: We performed a matched case-control study of incident breast cancer (BC) cases versus healthy control subjects to evaluate the association between Toxoplasma infection and BC. We enrolled 161 newly diagnosed cases and 91 healthy controls, and anti-Toxoplasma serum antibodies were examined using ELISA kits. Chi-squared test was used to calculate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Findings: Only one BC patient was seropositive for IgM while all healthy controls were seronegative. Moreover, the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG serum antibodies in the case and control groups was 70.8% (95% CI, 63.1–77.7%; 114/161) and 95.6% (95% CI, 89.1–98.7%; 87/91), respectively, indicating a significant protective association (OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.03–0.35%) for Toxoplasma infection in relation to BC development. Conclusion: Latent Toxoplasma infection might have a protective role against the development of BC. More studies are needed to confirm our findings.   Toxoplasma infection, Breast cancer, Association, ELISA 34 38 http://crms.mubabol.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-164-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 N Nikbaksh novinsu@hotmail.com 10031947532846001755 10031947532846001755 Yes Cancer Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran F Mazhari fatemehmazhari73@gmail.com 10031947532846001756 10031947532846001756 No Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran A Bijani alibijani@yahoo.com 10031947532846001757 10031947532846001757 No Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran A Rostami alirostami1984@gmail.com 10031947532846001758 10031947532846001758 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran M Bayani m_baiany@yahoo.com 10031947532846001759 10031947532846001759 No Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran