This post provides further evidence for a possible connection between birds and PD. However, it shouldn't be seen as specific: this bird, not that bird; this animal, but not that animal; or, even, this pathogen, but not that pathogen. Rather, it should be seen as an example of infections that can lay dormant for years until a person becomes immunocompromised.
Perhap we don't hear
the dog bark because many of the dogs bark at the same time.
Birds are associated with toxoplasma infection. [1]
Quote:
|
A sample of European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, culled from a communal roost in a city in Central England, was examined for infection with Toxoplasma. Eleven (8%) of 133 birds were confirmed as infected after horizontal passage of brain homogenate through mice.... If the proportion of starlings infected with Toxoplasma in this sample is representative of the population as a whole, then this bird could play an important role in the maintenance of the infection in urban environments.
|
Toxoplasma gondii associated with PD. [2]
Quote:
|
"The sero-positivity rate for anti-T. gondii IgG antibodies in PD patients and control groups were 42.3 and 22.5%, respectively, and they were statistically significant (p=0.006). These results suggest that Toxoplasma infection may be involved in the pathogenetic mechanisms of PD."
|
Why don't people know they are infected? [3]
Quote:
|
T. gondii is a major cause of subclinical human infection and an important opportunistic pathogen that causes severe disease in immunocompromised patients.
|
References
[1] Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 1989 Apr;83(2):173-7.
"Incidence of Toxoplasma infection in a population of European starlings Sturnus vulgaris from central England."
Peach W, Fowler J, Hay J.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2604457
[2] Neurosci Lett. 2010 May 21;475(3):129-31. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2010.03.057. Epub 2010 Mar 27.
"The probable relation between Toxoplasma gondii and Parkinson's disease."
Miman O, Kusbeci OY, Aktepe OC, Cetinkaya Z.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20350582
[3] J Infect Dis. 1995 Dec;172(6):1561-6.
"Toxoplasma gondii comprises three clonal lineages: correlation of parasite genotype with human disease."
Howe DK, Sibley LD.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7594717
John