Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34855762›Full record

ArticlePloS one2021

Investigating the risk factors for seroprevalence and the correlation between CD4+ T-cell count and humoral antibody responses to Toxoplasma gondii infection amongst HIV patients in the Bamenda Health District, Cameroon.

Eugene Enah Fang, Raymond Babila Nyasa, Emmanuel Menang Ndi, Denis Zofou, Tebit Emmanuel Kwenti, Edith Pafoule Lepezeu, Vincent P K Titanji, Roland N Ndip

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Seroprevalence and Risk Factors forResearch and reports in tropical medicine · 2025
    Article
  3. Genetic diversity ofCurrent research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2024
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Therapeutic potential ofBrain communications · 2024
    Article
  6. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Eugene Enah FangDepartment of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.ORCID 0000-0001-5554-2913
Raymond Babila NyasaDepartment of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.ORCID 0000-0001-5916-0058
Emmanuel Menang NdiBiotechnology Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Denis ZofouBiotechnology Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Tebit Emmanuel KwentiDepartment of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Health Science, University of Buea, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.ORCID 0000-0001-5526-9179
Edith Pafoule LepezeuBamenda Regional Hospital, Bamenda, North West Region, Cameroon.
Vincent P K TitanjiBiotechnology Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, Buea, South West Region, Cameroon.
Roland N NdipDepartment of Microbiology and Parasitology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
University of Buea · CMBamenda University of Science and Technology · CM

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundToxoplasmosis is caused by an obligate intracellular tissue protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii that infect humans and other warm-blooded animals. Transmission to humans is by eating raw or inadequately cooked infected meat or through ingestion of oocysts that cats have passed in faeces. Studies have shown life-threatening and substantial neurologic damage in immunocompromised patients; however, 80% of humans remain asymptomatic. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in HIV positive patients and the risk factors associated with the infection, and to investigate the correlation between CD4+ T-cell count and toxoplasma specific antibodies as possible predictors of each other amongst HIV patients in the Bamenda Health District of the North West Region of Cameroon.

methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted, in which 325 HIV patients were recruited for administration of questionnaire, serological diagnosis of T. gondii and measurement of CD4+ T-cell count. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with T. gondii infection while the linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between CD4+ T-cell count and antibody levels against T. gondii.

resultsThe findings showed that, majority (45.8%) of HIV patients suffered from chronic (IgG antibody) infection, and 6.5% from acute (IgM and IgM/IgG antibody) toxoplasma infection. The overall sero-prevalence of T. gondii infection amongst HIV patients was 50.5%. On the whole, 43 men (45.7%) and 127 women (55%) presented with anti- T. gondii antibodies; however, there was no significant difference amongst males and females who were positive to T. gondii infection (p = 0.131). Marital status (p = 0.0003), contact with garden soil (p = 0.0062), and garden ownership (p = 0.009), were factors that showed significant association with T. gondii infection. There was no significant difference (p = 0.909) between the mean CD4+ T-cell count of HIV patients negative for toxoplasma infection (502.7 cells/mL), chronically infected with T. gondii (517.7 cells/mL) and acutely infected with T. gondii (513.1 cells/mL). CD4+ T-cell count was neither a predictor of IgM antibody titer (r = 0.193, p = 0.401), nor IgG antibody titer (r = 0.149, p = 0.519) amongst HIV patients acutely infected with T. gondii.

conclusionThe findings from this study underscore the need to implement preventive and control measures to fight against T. gondii infection amongst HIV patients in the Bamenda Health District.

Indexed as

AdultAntibodies, ProtozoanCameroonCD4-Positive T-LymphocytesCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHIV InfectionsHumansImmunocompromised HostMalePrevalenceRisk FactorsSeroepidemiologic StudiesToxoplasmosisAntibodies, Protozoan

Identifiers

PMID34855762
PMCPMC8638881
OpenAlexW3215432546

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.