Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes Infection in Iranian Pregnant Women with and without a History of Abortion: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is an important foodborne pathogen that can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or premature birth of the fetus in pregnant women. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of LM infection in Iranian pregnant women with and without a history of abortion. Methods: A systematic search was performed in national (Iranian Scientific Information Database [SID], Magiran, IranMedex) and international (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science) electronic databases for literature published between January 1, 1999, to the end of January 2022. Data analysis was done using R Studio software version 1.4.1717. Results: In total, 17 studies, including 2553 women with a history of abortion and 1065 women without a history of abortion (3168 Iranian pregnant women), were included for the final analysis. The prevalence of LM infection in Iranian pregnant women with and without a history of abortion was estimated at 14% (95% CI: 13%–16%) and 5% (95% CI: 4%–7%), respectively. In addition, the incidence of the hlyA gene in Iranian pregnant women with and without a history of abortion was 11% (95% CI; 5%–22%). Conclusion: The results of this study show that the prevalence of LM was higher in women who had a history of abortion compared to women without a history of abortion. Therefore, it seems that one of the possible etiological factors of abortion among Iranian pregnant women is the high prevalence of infection with LM.