Chronic Toxoplasma gondii Infection Modulates Hearing Ability across the Adult Life Span

Stephan Getzmann; Klaus Golka; Peter Bröde; Jörg Reinders; Thura Kadhum; Jan G Hengstler; Edmund Wascher; Patrick D Gajewski

doi:10.3390/life14020194

Chronic Toxoplasma gondii Infection Modulates Hearing Ability across the Adult Life Span

Life (Basel). 2024 Jan 29;14(2):194. doi: 10.3390/life14020194.

Authors

Stephan Getzmann¹, Klaus Golka¹, Peter Bröde¹, Jörg Reinders¹, Thura Kadhum², Jan G Hengstler¹, Edmund Wascher^{1

3}, Patrick D Gajewski¹

Affiliations

¹ Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors at TU Dortmund (IfADo), D-44139 Dortmund, Germany.
² Clinic for Psychosomatic Rehabilitation, Mittelrhein-Klinik, D-56154 Boppard-Bad Salzig, Germany.
³ German Center for Mental Health (DZPG), Partner Site Bochum/Marburg, 44787 Bochum, Germany.

Abstract

While several studies have shown associations between hearing disorders and congenital toxoplasmosis, the present study investigated the impact of chronic, latent Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infection on hearing loss. We used a regression analysis to explore whether latent T. gondii infection modulates changes in hearing thresholds over an age range from 20 to 70 years. We analyzed audiometric data of 162 T. gondii IgG-positive and 430 T. gondii-negative participants, collected in the Dortmund Vital Study (DVS, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05155397), a prospective study on healthy cognitive aging. The regression analysis indicated that latent toxoplasmosis was associated with an accelerated development in hearing loss over the observed age range. Hearing loss was less frequent in IgG-positive than in IgG-negative participants up to the age of about 40 for a low (0.125-1 kHz)-frequency range. For high (2-8 kHz) frequencies, this pattern reversed for ages above 65 years. We discuss these findings on hearing function in the context of a recently proposed model, suggesting that latent toxoplasmosis can differentially affect brain functions across a lifespan.

Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii; aging; audiometry; hearing.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT05155397

Grants and funding

The Dortmund Vital Study is funded by the institute’s budget. Thus, the study design, collection, management, analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the report, and the decision to submit the report for publication is not influenced or biased by any sponsor.