Potential genetic polymorphism of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in Iranian migraine patients with Toxoplasma gondii infection

• Published in: Parasitology research (1987) 2024-02, Vol.123 (2), p.140, Article 140
• Main Authors: Hashemi, Sepideh, Saadat, Payam, Gorgani-Firouzjaee, Tahmineh, Ferdosi-Shahandashti, Elaheh, Jafarzadeh, Jalal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alleles; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Gelatinase B; Gene frequency; Gene polymorphism; Headache; Immunoglobulin G; Immunology; Infections; Inflammation; Leukocyte migration; Matrix metalloproteinase; Medical Microbiology; Metalloproteinase; Microbiology; Migraine; Neurological diseases; Polymorphism; Toxoplasma; Toxoplasma gondii
• ISSN: 0932-0113; 1432-1955; 1432-1955
• DOI: 10.1007/s00436-024-08156-7

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite that causes neuroinflammation in the brain and a constant need for peripheral leukocyte migration. Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) can play a major role in this neuroinflammation and be implicated in some neurological disorders, such as migraines. Therefore, the genetic polymorphism evaluation of MMP-9 in migraine patients with T. gondii infection was performed. One hundred fourteen migraine patients and 114 healthy controls were evaluated for the presence of anti- Toxoplasma IgG antibodies. Seventy-two migraine patients and 40 healthy controls were randomly selected for assessment of the MMP 9-1562C/T genetic polymorphism. In the preliminary examination, 61 (53.5%) migraine patients and 43 (37.3%) healthy controls were positive for IgG antibodies, with a significant association between T. gondii seropositivity and migraine (OR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.21–3.223; P  = 0.012). Genetic distribution for the polymorphism was not in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in cases but showed no significant variation in control groups ( P  = 0.03 and P  = 0.180, respectively). A significant preponderance of the CT + TT genotype was found in migraine subjects compared to controls ( P  = 0.042) (OR, 1.77, CI, 1.013–2.229). The homozygote muted allele TT had a higher rate in migraine patients (6.9%). There were significant differences in CT + TT genotype between T. gondii positive and negative migraine patients ( P  = 0.024), but T allele frequencies had no significant variation (OR 1.7 CI, 1.084–2.44 and 0.42 CI, 0.044–3.97, respectively). In conclusion, the results may provide the first evidence for the involvement of the MMP-9 gene polymorphism in the mechanism of migraine pathology following Toxoplasma infection.