Pharmacy Daily | Gender influences parasite eye disease

WOMEN are more likely to experience recurrent cases of the toxoplasma parasite, according to new Flinders University research.

With the condition putting people at risk of further attacks of toxoplasmosis that can progressively damage the retina and lead to vision loss, international experts have demonstrated that women are also more likely to have more than one lesion in their eyes.

Study senior author Prof Justine Smith (pictured), Strategic Professor in Eye & Vision Health at Flinders University shared, "inflammation in the retina continues to be the most common disease caused by an infection with toxoplasma".

"This new research shows that although the medical outcomes of toxoplasmosis are similar for both men and women, there are clear and significant differences in symptoms between genders when people present at a clinic for treatment.

"This research demonstrates the potential for patients' gender to influence toxoplasmosis in their eyes, so we can improve our understanding about the disease and hopefully develop future treatment pathways."

In the study, published in the British Journal of Opthamology HERE, Smith and her team compared differences in toxoplasmosis symptoms between 139 women and 123 men who presented to a clinic for treatment in Riberiao Preto, Brazil.

"Lesions in women's eyes were significantly more likely to occur in the central retina compared with those in men's eyes, with the rest of the quality of vision similar for women and men, for visual sharpness, ocular complications, and occurrence and timing of disease reactivations between the genders," explained Smith.

"Ultimately, we determined that toxoplasmosis has similar outcomes for both genders but that there are clear differences in the type and characteristics of the disease which impact each gender differently."