Potential linkage between Toxoplasma gondii infection and physical education scores of college students

Jun Cai; Zhijin Sheng; Yu Jin; Yinan Du; Xinlei Yan; Yong Yao

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241653

Potential linkage between Toxoplasma gondii infection and physical education scores of college students

PLoS One. 2021 Mar 3;16(3):e0241653. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241653. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jun Cai¹, Zhijin Sheng², Yu Jin³, Yinan Du⁴, Xinlei Yan⁵, Yong Yao⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Education of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, P. R China.
² Department of Physical Education, College of Humanistic Medicine, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, P. R China.
³ Anhui Provincial Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Hefei, Anhui, P. R China.
⁴ Department of Human Parasitology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, P. R China.
⁵ Food Science and Engineering College of Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot, China.
⁶ College of Life Sciences, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, P. R China.

Abstract

Objective: Toxoplasma gondii is a worldwide protozoan parasite that could infect virtually all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence of T. gondii infection in college students at Anhui province, China and to assess risk factors for T. gondii infection in college students. Moreover, growing studies demonstrated the association between T. gondii infection and host behavioral changes. We also studied the linkage between T. gondii and physical education (PE) scores of college students.

Methods: A total of 2704 serum samples of medical school students attending physical education lessons were collected from September 2017 to September 2019 and evaluated for T. gondii IgG antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Questionnaires and statistical analysis were used to determine the risk factors for T. gondii infection. We also analysed PE scores of T. gondii -infected students and T. gondii-uninfected students.

Results: The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii was 11.5%. The main risk factors related to T. gondii infection in college students were cat in the household and gardening or agriculture activity. Furthermore, in the basketball group and the soccer group, scores of T. gondii seropositive students were significantly higher than those of seronegative students, while in other sports there was no difference between scores of T. gondii-infected students and T. gondii uninfected students.

Conclusion: This is the first report of T. gondii seroprevalence in college students in Anhui province, China.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Academic Success*
Adult
China / epidemiology
Female
Humans
Male
Physical Education and Training*
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Students
Surveys and Questionnaires
Toxoplasmosis / epidemiology*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

Our study is financially supported by Research on the humanities and social sciences of Anhui Province (Grant #: SK2017A0163), Anhui high education quality elevation project (Grant #: 2017jyxm0143), Research Foundation for Universities at Anhui (Grant #: KJ2019A0264) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant #: 31701162), and Program of Inner Mongolia Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 2018BS03015). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.