Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE: Human toxocariasis is a zoonotic infection caused by the larval stages of Toxocara canis (T. canis) and less frequently Toxocara cati (T. cati). A relationship between toxocariasis and epilepsy has been hypothesized. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of available data t...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d5c77225ba4c468893f81ce3e1140f73 2023-05-15T15:15:53+02:00 Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. Graziella Quattrocchi Alessandra Nicoletti Benoit Marin Elisa Bruno Michel Druet-Cabanac Pierre-Marie Preux 2012-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001775 https://doaj.org/article/d5c77225ba4c468893f81ce3e1140f73 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3419195?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001775 https://doaj.org/article/d5c77225ba4c468893f81ce3e1140f73 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 6, Iss 8, p e1775 (2012) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2012 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001775 2022-12-31T00:11:32Z OBJECTIVE: Human toxocariasis is a zoonotic infection caused by the larval stages of Toxocara canis (T. canis) and less frequently Toxocara cati (T. cati). A relationship between toxocariasis and epilepsy has been hypothesized. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of available data to evaluate the strength of association between epilepsy and Toxocara spp. seropositivity and to propose some guidelines for future surveys. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases, the database from the Institute of Neuroepidemiology and Tropical Neurology of the University of Limoges (http://www-ient.unilim.fr/) and the reference lists of all relevant papers and books were screened up to October 2011. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of literature on toxocariasis (the exposure) and epilepsy (the outcome). Two authors independently assessed eligibility and study quality and extracted data. A common odds ratio (OR) was estimated using a random-effects meta-analysis model of aggregated published data. RESULTS: Seven case-control studies met the inclusion criteria, for a total of 1867 participants (850 cases and 1017 controls). The percentage of seropositivity (presence of anti-Toxocara spp. antibodies) was higher among people with epilepsy (PWE) in all the included studies even if the association between epilepsy and Toxocara spp. seropositivity was statistically significant in only 4 studies, with crude ORs ranging 2.04-2.85. Another study bordered statistical significance, while in 2 of the included studies no significant association was found. A significant (p < 0.001) common OR of 1.92 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.50-2.44] was estimated. Similar results were found when meta-analysis was restricted to the studies considering an exclusively juvenile population and to surveys using Western Blot as confirmatory or diagnostic serological assay. CONCLUSION: Our results support the existence of a positive association between Toxocara spp. seropositivity and epilepsy. Further studies, possibly including incident ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 6 8 e1775 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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English |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Graziella Quattrocchi Alessandra Nicoletti Benoit Marin Elisa Bruno Michel Druet-Cabanac Pierre-Marie Preux Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
OBJECTIVE: Human toxocariasis is a zoonotic infection caused by the larval stages of Toxocara canis (T. canis) and less frequently Toxocara cati (T. cati). A relationship between toxocariasis and epilepsy has been hypothesized. We conducted a systematic review and a meta-analysis of available data to evaluate the strength of association between epilepsy and Toxocara spp. seropositivity and to propose some guidelines for future surveys. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases, the database from the Institute of Neuroepidemiology and Tropical Neurology of the University of Limoges (http://www-ient.unilim.fr/) and the reference lists of all relevant papers and books were screened up to October 2011. METHODS: We performed a systematic review of literature on toxocariasis (the exposure) and epilepsy (the outcome). Two authors independently assessed eligibility and study quality and extracted data. A common odds ratio (OR) was estimated using a random-effects meta-analysis model of aggregated published data. RESULTS: Seven case-control studies met the inclusion criteria, for a total of 1867 participants (850 cases and 1017 controls). The percentage of seropositivity (presence of anti-Toxocara spp. antibodies) was higher among people with epilepsy (PWE) in all the included studies even if the association between epilepsy and Toxocara spp. seropositivity was statistically significant in only 4 studies, with crude ORs ranging 2.04-2.85. Another study bordered statistical significance, while in 2 of the included studies no significant association was found. A significant (p < 0.001) common OR of 1.92 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.50-2.44] was estimated. Similar results were found when meta-analysis was restricted to the studies considering an exclusively juvenile population and to surveys using Western Blot as confirmatory or diagnostic serological assay. CONCLUSION: Our results support the existence of a positive association between Toxocara spp. seropositivity and epilepsy. Further studies, possibly including incident ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Graziella Quattrocchi Alessandra Nicoletti Benoit Marin Elisa Bruno Michel Druet-Cabanac Pierre-Marie Preux |
author_facet |
Graziella Quattrocchi Alessandra Nicoletti Benoit Marin Elisa Bruno Michel Druet-Cabanac Pierre-Marie Preux |
author_sort |
Graziella Quattrocchi |
title |
Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
title_short |
Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
title_full |
Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
title_fullStr |
Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
title_sort |
toxocariasis and epilepsy: systematic review and meta-analysis. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001775 https://doaj.org/article/d5c77225ba4c468893f81ce3e1140f73 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 6, Iss 8, p e1775 (2012) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3419195?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001775 https://doaj.org/article/d5c77225ba4c468893f81ce3e1140f73 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001775 |
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PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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6 |
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8 |
container_start_page |
e1775 |
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1766346214081560576 |