Infectious Causation of Abnormal Host Behavior: Toxoplasma gondii and Its Potential Association With Dopey Fox Syndrome.

ABSTRACT: The apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, can infect all warm-blooded animals. T. gondii can subtly alter host behaviors-either through manipulation to enhance transmission to the feline definitive host or as a side-effect, or "constraint," of infection. In humans, T. gondii infection, either alone or in association with other co-infecting neurotropic agents, has been reliably associated with both subtle behavioral changes and, in some cases, severe neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Research on the potential impact of T. gondii on the behavior of other long-lived naturally infected hosts is lacking. Recent studies reported a large number of wild red foxes exhibiting a range of aberrant behavioral traits

SUBMITTER: Milne G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7525129 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature