Role of Anti-Tissue Transglutaminase IgA Antibody in Aborted Women Infected with Toxoplasma Gondii in Association with Latent Coeliac Disease

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that is capable of infecting a variety of intermediate hosts including humans. Infected definitive hosts (cats) shed oocysts in feces that rapidly mature in the soil and become infectious. Vertical transmission of the parasite through the placenta can also occur, leading to congenital toxoplasmosis. Following primary infection, Toxoplasma gondii can remain latent for the life of the host; the risk for reactivation is highest among immunosuppressed individuals. The current study was planned by using 125 pregnant women with single or multiple abortion from different private clinics and hospitals in Babylon province, as well as a control group of 215 pregnant women without history of abortion and 15 apparently healthy women without pregnancy. For all patients and controls, screening tests for anti-Toxoplasma (anti-Toxo) antibody (IgM and IgG) and anti-transglutaminase/Immunoglobulin A (AtTg/IgA) antibody level were done by using ELISA technique in the laboratory of Babylon GIT Center during the period from August 2016 to June 2017. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was used to analyze the data. The result revealed that IgG was only indicative of previous exposure to Toxoplasma (recent or past IgG. Women aged 24-35 years were more susceptible to abortion than the other age groups, mostly during the first trimester of pregnancy. There was a relationship between aborted women having toxoplasma infection with AtTg antibody, which might suggest a latent coeliac disease (asymptomatic) that was associated with pregnancy and led to spontaneous abortion. The AtTg IgA had significant negative correlation with age group, time of abortion and abortion number. This result might indicate that AtTg IgA spontaneously increased with time in relation to patient ages as well as specific conditions of aborted women such as time and number of abortion.