Cats could potentially promote higher risk of miscarriage, birth defects, and psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder by transmitting a parasite to the human body, a new study shows. Melbourne researchers have found the parasite called toxoplasma could invade a human cell and change a person’s behaviour or personality in the process.

Toxoplasma is a common parasite transmitted by cats and is also present in raw meat. Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research have found that the parasite hijacks the host cell, such as a brain cell, to grow and survive in the body, hibernating for decades by creating its own food reserve.

Infection of toxoplasma could lead to "massive changes” in the cell, preventing immune attack while securing a steady nutrient supply, said lead researcher Dr. Chris Tonkin. Toxoplasma parasites grow and reproduce by sending proteins to the human host cell to manipulate the person’s cellular pathways.

Cats are considered one of the primary transmitters of toxoplasma parasites. The findings, published in the journals Cell Host & Microbe and eLife, show infection of the parasites could lead to various health risks.

Tonkin warns that pregnant women who are infected by the parasites have a substantial risk of miscarriage or birth defects. Dr. Justin Boddey, one of the researchers, added that proteins from toxoplasma could also influence the behaviour of an infected individual.

Toxoplasma infection has been linked to the psychiatric diseases schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, Boddey said further tests are needed to see how the proteins could disrupt brain function and promote the development of the diseases.

Furthermore, researchers have also found that the parasites can reactivate and cause neurological damage and death to people with suppressed immune systems. Patients with cancer were found to be at higher risk of suffering the conditions.

The researchers, however, discovered the pathways allowing toxoplasma parasites to establish chronic infections. Tonkin said the finding could help the development of a drug that could clear the parasites in the human body, or a vaccine that would prevent infection in at-risk people, such as pregnant women.

"We discovered that, similar to animals preparing for hibernation, toxoplasma parasites stockpile large amounts of starch when they become dormant," he said. "By identifying and disabling the switch that drives starch storage, we found that we could kill the dormant parasites, preventing them from establishing a chronic infection."

Tonkin added that researchers are hoping for their discoveries to lead the development of a vaccine that could stop cats from transmitting the parasite.

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