{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,25]],"date-time":"2026-03-25T12:45:12Z","timestamp":1774442712217,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]],"date-time":"2021-12-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1638403200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Toxoplasmosis is caused by an obligate intracellular tissue protozoan parasite, <jats:italic>Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic> 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 <jats:italic>Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic> 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.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A cross-sectional study was conducted, in which 325 HIV patients were recruited for administration of questionnaire, serological diagnosis of <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> and measurement of CD4+ T-cell count. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infection while the linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between CD4+ T-cell count and antibody levels against <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The 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 <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infection amongst HIV patients was 50.5%. On the whole, 43 men (45.7%) and 127 women (55%) presented with anti- <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> antibodies; however, there was no significant difference amongst males and females who were positive to <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infection (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.131). Marital status (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.0003), contact with garden soil (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.0062), and garden ownership (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.009), were factors that showed significant association with <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infection. There was no significant difference (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.909) between the mean CD4+ T-cell count of HIV patients negative for toxoplasma infection (502.7 cells\/mL), chronically infected with <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> (517.7 cells\/mL) and acutely infected with <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> (513.1 cells\/mL). CD4+ T-cell count was neither a predictor of IgM antibody titer (<jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic> = 0.193, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.401), nor IgG antibody titer (<jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic> = 0.149, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic> = 0.519) amongst HIV patients acutely infected with <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic>.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The findings from this study underscore the need to implement preventive and control measures to fight against <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>gondii<\/jats:italic> infection amongst HIV patients in the Bamenda Health District.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0256947","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]],"date-time":"2021-12-02T19:29:04Z","timestamp":1638473344000},"page":"e0256947","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["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"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5554-2913","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Eugene Enah","family":"Fang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5916-0058","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Raymond Babila","family":"Nyasa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Emmanuel Menang","family":"Ndi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Denis","family":"Zofou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5526-9179","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Tebit Emmanuel","family":"Kwenti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Edith Pafoule","family":"Lepezeu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vincent P. K.","family":"Titanji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Roland","family":"N. Ndip","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0256947.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"129","DOI":"10.4103\/2229-5070.190817","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis in HIV infection: An overview","volume":"6","author":"A. Basavaraju","year":"2016","journal-title":"Tropical Parasitology"},{"key":"pone.0256947.ref002","volume-title":"StatPearls (Internet)","author":"F. Ayoade"},{"key":"pone.0256947.ref003","first-page":"59","article-title":"Seroepidemiology of toxoplasmosis in high-school students in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.","volume":"20","author":"M. L. 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Silva","year":"2017","journal-title":"Brazilian Journal of Surgery and Clinical Research"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0256947","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]],"date-time":"2021-12-02T19:29:28Z","timestamp":1638473368000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0256947"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Mohammed Abdelfatah Mosa","family":"Alhoot","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]]},"references-count":23,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0256947","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,2]]}}}