Human toxocariasis seroprevalence among patients with uveitis in Alborz Province, Iran.

Introduction And Objective: Toxocariasis, predominantly caused by , is a common zoonotic parasitosis worldwide. infection is a cause of vision impairment and blindness. The presented study investigates the frequency of antibodies against among uveitis patients and the epidemiological factors associated with disease.

Material And Methods: Fifty-four patients with uveitis and 59 healthy subjects were studied. Anti- antibodies status was determined in all serum samples using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and seropositive samples analyzed by Western blot (WB) technique.

Results: The frequency of infection was found to be significantly higher in uveitis patients, compared to healthy controls by the use of ELISA test, being 14.8% and 1.7%, respectively. From 8 seropositive samples, 5 (62.5%) patients exhibited immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in response to Western blot, whereas in the control group, none were detected positive by Western blot. No significant difference was found between pet owners, nor between different places of residence. The seroprevalence to Toxocara among uveitis patients was significantly related to gender, age and medical diagnosis. The highest prevalence was found in patients with posterior uveitis (27.8%).

Conclusions: Anti- antibody titers are associated with the risk of vision impairment -uveitis. The risk factor associated with exposure identified in this study warrants further investigation.