The Levels of Testosterone, FSH and LH in Pregnant Women with Chronic Toxoplasmosis in Najaf Province

Abstract

Infection with the intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is widely prevalent in human and vertebrate animals. A wide range effects of toxoplasmosis has been studied, but there are still unknown aspects which must be explored The present study investigates the changes of testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in pregnant women with chronic toxoplasmosis using mini-VIDAS technique. A total number of 59 toxoplasma-IgG positive pregnant women and 28 healthy toxoplasm-IgG seronagative pregnant women were involved. The results showed that pregnant women with Toxoplasma chronic infection revealed insignificant higher levels of testosterone and LH (0.44 ng/ml, 1.74 mIU/ml respectively), and insignificant lower levels of FSH (1.78 mIU/ml) in compared to non-toxoplasmic pregnant women (0.42 ng/ml, 1.68 mIU/ml, 2.25mIU/ml). These findings are to suggest that chronic infection with T. gondii has no association with significant changes of these hormones in pregnant women.