Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T19:26:55.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sex-dependent toxoplasmosis-associated differences in testosterone concentration in humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2008

J. FLEGR ,
J. LINDOVÁ  and
P. KODYM
J. FLEGR*
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44 Prague 2, Czech Republic
J. LINDOVÁ
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44 Prague 2, Czech Republic Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Husníkova 2075, 155 00, Prague 13, Czech Republic
P. KODYM
Affiliation:
National Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, National Institute of Public Health, Šrobárova 48, 100 42, Prague 10, Czech Republic
*
*Corresponding author: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic. Tel: +420 221951821. Fax: +420 224919704. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Several lines of indirect evidence suggest that subjects with latent infection of the coccidian parasite Toxoplasma gondii have a higher concentration of testosterone than uninfected controls. Here, we searched for direct evidence of latent toxoplasmosis-associated differences in testosterone concentration among a population of 174 female and 91 male students screened for Toxoplasma infection. We have found Toxoplasma-infected men to have a higher concentration of testosterone and Toxoplasma-infected women to have a lower concentration of testosterone than Toxoplasma-free controls. The opposite direction of the testosterone shift in men compared to women can explain the observed gender specificity of behavioural shifts in Toxoplasma-infected subjects.

Keywords

infectionbehaviourToxoplasmahormonesandrogensmanipulation
Type
Original Articles
Information
Parasitology , Volume 135 , Issue 4 , April 2008 , pp. 427 - 431
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Barnard, C. J. and Behnke, J. M. (1990). Parasitism and Host Behaviour. 1st Edn. Taylor and Francis, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brems, C. and Johnson, M. E. (1989). Problem-solving appraisal and coping style – the influence of sex-role orientation and gender. Journal of Psychology 123, 187–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, W. M., Hines, M., Fane, B. A. and Breedlove, S. M. (2002). Masculinized finger length patterns in human males and females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Hormones and Behavior 42, 380–386.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carver, C. S., Scheier, M. F. and Weintraub, J. K. (1989). Assessing coping strategies – a theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 56, 267–283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dawkins, R. (1982). The Extended Phenotype, the Gene as the Unit of Selection. 1st Edn. W.H. Freeman, Oxford.Google Scholar
Drop, S. L. S., De Waal, W. J. and Keizer-Schrama, S. M. P. F. (1998). Sex steroid treatment of constitutionally tall stature. Endocrine Reviews 19, 540–558.Google ScholarPubMed
Dominguez, J. M. and Hull, E. M. (2005). Dopamine, the medial preoptic area, and male sexual behavior. Physiology and Behavior 86, 356–368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flegr, J. (2007). Effects of Toxoplasma on human behavior. Schizophrenia Bulletin 33, 757–760.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flegr, J., Hruskova, M., Hodny, Z., Novotna, M. and Hanusova, J. (2005). Body height, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, fluctuating asymmetry and second to fourth digit ratio in subjects with latent toxoplasmosis. Parasitology 130, 621–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flegr, J., Kodym, P. and Tolarova, V. (2000). Correlation of duration of latent Toxoplasma gondii infection with personality changes in women. Biological Psychology 53, 57–68.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flegr, J., Zitkova, S., Kodym, P. and Frynta, D. (1996). Induction of changes in human behaviour by the parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Parasitology 113, 49–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodkova, H., Kolbekova, P., Skallova, A., Lindová, J. and Flegr, J. (2007). Higher perceived dominance in Toxoplasma infected men – the new evidence for role of increased level of testosterone in toxoplasmosis-associated changes in human behavior. Neuroendocrinology Letters 28, 101–105.Google ScholarPubMed
Hull, E. M., Muschamp, J. W. and Sato, S. (2004). Dopamine and serotonin: influences on male sexual behavior. Physiology and Behavior 83, 291–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (1986). Hormonal control of sex ratio. Journal of Theoretical Biology 118, 427–441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (1996). Evidence that mammalian sex ratios at birth are partially controlled by parental hormone levels at the time of conception. Journal of Theoretical Biology 180, 271–286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaňková, Š., Šulc, J., Nouzová, K., Fajfrlík, K., Frynta, D. and Flegr, J. (2007). Women infected with parasite Toxoplasma have more sons. Naturwissenschaften 94, 122–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kodym, P., Machala, L., Rohacova, H., Sirocka, B. and Maly, M. (2007). Evaluation of a commercial IgE ELISA in comparison with IgA and IgM ELISAs, IgG avidity assay and complement fixation for the diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis. Clinical Microbiology and Infection 13, 40–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lindová, J., Novotná, M., Havliček, J., Jozífková, E., Skallová, A., Kolbeková, P., Hodný, Z., Kodym, P. and Flegr, J. (2006). Gender differences in behavioural changes induced by latent toxoplasmosis. International Journal for Parasitology 36, 1485–1492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lutchmaya, S., Baron-Cohen, S., Raggatt, P., Knickmeyer, R. and Manning, J. T. (2004). 2nd to 4th digit ratios, fetal testosterone and estradiol. Early Human Development 77, 23–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neave, N., Laing, S., Fink, B. and Manning, J. T. (2003). Second to fourth digit ratio, testosterone and perceived male dominance. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 270, 2167–2172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Okten, A., Kalyoncu, M. and Yaris, N. (2002). The ratio of second- and fourth-digit lengths and congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Early Human Development 70, 47–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pokorný, J., Fruhbauer, Z., Polednakova, S., Sykora, J., Zastera, M. and Fialova, D. (1989). Stanoveni antitoxoplasmickych protilatek IgG netodou ELISA (Assessment of antitoxoplasmatic IgG antibodies with the ELISA method). Ceskoslovenska Epidemiologie 38, 355–361.Google ScholarPubMed
Roberts, C. W., Walker, W. and Alexander, J. (2001). Sex-associated hormones and immunity to protozoan parasites. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 14, 476–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schuster, J. P. and Schaub, G. A. (2001). Experimental Chagas disease: the influence of sex and psychoneuroimmunological factors. Parasitology Research 87, 994–1000.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Szczypka, M. S., Zhou, Q. Y. and Palmiter, R. D. (1998). Dopamine-stimulated sexual behavior is testosterone dependent mice. Behavioral Neuroscience 112, 1229–1235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tenter, A. M., Heckeroth, A. R. and Weiss, L. M. (2000). Toxoplasma gondii: from animals to humans. International Journal for Parasitology 30, 1217–1258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warren, J. and Sabin, A. B. (1942). The complement fixation reaction in toxoplasmic infection. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 51, 11–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, J. P. (2001). Rats, cats, people and parasites: the impact of latent toxoplasmosis on behaviour. Microbes and Infection 3, 1037–1045.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed