Longer pregnancy and slower fetal development in women with latent "asymptomatic" toxoplasmosis
Language English Country England, Great Britain Media electronic
Document type Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PubMed
17916246
PubMed Central
PMC2233629
DOI
10.1186/1471-2334-7-114
PII: 1471-2334-7-114
Knihovny.cz E-resources
- MeSH
- Time Factors MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Cohort Studies MeSH
- Toxoplasmosis, Congenital complications physiopathology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Linear Models MeSH
- Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic physiopathology MeSH
- Parity MeSH
- Antibodies, Protozoan analysis MeSH
- Retrospective Studies MeSH
- Fetal Growth Retardation etiology physiopathology MeSH
- Pregnancy MeSH
- Ultrasonography, Prenatal MeSH
- Fetal Development physiology MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Pregnancy MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Names of Substances
- Antibodies, Protozoan MeSH
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to confirm that women with latent toxoplasmosis have developmentally younger fetuses at estimated pregnancy week 16 and to test four exclusive hypotheses that could explain the observed data. METHODS: In the present retrospective cohort study we analysed by the GLM (general linear model) method data from 730 Toxoplasma-free and 185 Toxoplasma-infected pregnant women. RESULTS: At pregnancy week 16 estimated from the date of the last menstruation, the mothers with latent toxoplasmosis had developmentally younger fetuses based on ultrasound scan (P = 0.014). Pregnancy of Toxoplasma-positive compared to Toxoplasma-negative women was by about 1.3 days longer, as estimated both from the date of the last menstruation (P = 0.015) and by ultrasonography (P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: The most parsimonious explanation for the observed data is retarded fetal growth during the first weeks of pregnancy in Toxoplasma-positive women. The phenomenon was only detectable in multiparous women, suggesting that the immune system may play some role in it.
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