A new perspective on essential tremor: the potential etiologic role of <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> and <i>Toxocara</i> spp

Our aim was to examine the relationship between <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> (<i>T. gondii</i>) and <i>Toxocara</i> infection and patients with essential tremor (ET). This study comprised a total of 174 participants, consisting of 99 patients with ET and 75 healthy controls. The presence of anti-<i>T. gondii</i> IgG and anti-<i>Toxocara</i> IgG antibodies was investigated using ELISA. The relationship between the severity of the disease and the seropositivity of <i>T. gondii</i> and <i>Toxocara</i> were examined. The seropositivity rate for anti-<i>T. gondii</i> IgG antibodies among patients and control groups were 43.4% and 12%, respectively (odds ratio [OR]: 5.63; 95% CI: 2.53-12.56). The patient group exhibited a higher seroprevalence of anti-<i>Toxocara</i> IgG antibodies (32.3%) compared with the control group (13.3%; OR: 3.10; 95% CI: 1.41-6.83; <i>p</i> = 0.004). This study suggests that <i>T. gondii</i> and <i>Toxocara</i> infections can contribute to the pathogenic mechanisms underlying ET and could be risk factors for ET.