Molecular markers of susceptibility to ocular toxoplasmosis, host and guest behaving badly

Vallochi, Adriana Lima; Goldberg, Anna Carla; Falcai, Angela; Ramasawmy, Rajendranath; Kalil, Jorge; Silveira, Cássio; Belfort, Rubens; Rizzo, Luiz Vicente

doi:10.2147/opth.s1629

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 145 publications

(152 reference statements)

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“…In France, most cases were due to Type II strains indicating that ocular toxoplasmosis are not caused exclusively by Type I strains (Fekkar, Ajzenberg et al 2011). Local epidemiological factors and host genetic background also plays a role in the development of ocular disease (Holland, Crespi et al 2008; Vallochi, Goldberg et al 2008). …”

Section: Toxoplasmosis: Clinical Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxoplasmosis

Halonen,

Weiss

2013

Handbook of Clinical Neurology

306

272

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Toxoplasma gondii, an Apicomplexan, is a pathogen that can infect the central nervous system. Infection during pregnancy can result in a congenial infection with severe neurological sequela. In immune compromised individuals reactivation of latent neurological foci can result in encephalitis. Immune competent individuals infected with T. gondii are typically asymptomatic and maintain this infection for life. However, recent studies suggest that these asymptomatic infections may have effects on behavior and other physiological processes. T. gondii infects approximately one-third of the world population, making it one of the most successful parasitic organisms. Cats and other felidae serve as the definite host producing oocysts, an environmentally resistant life cycle stage found in cat feces, which can transmit the infection when ingested orally. A wide variety of warm-blooded animals, including humans, can serve as the intermediate host in which tissue cysts (containing bradyzoites) develop. Transmission also occurs due to ingestion of the tissue cysts. There are 3 predominant clonal lineages, termed types I, II and III and an association with higher pathogenicity with the Type I strains in humans has emerged. This chapter presents a review of the biology of this infection including the life cycle, transmission, epidemiology, parasite strains, and the host immune response. The major clinical outcomes of congenital infection, chorioretinitis, and encephalitis, and the possible association of infection of toxoplasmosis with neuropsychriatric disorders such as schizophrenia, are reviewed.

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Section: Toxoplasmosis: Clinical Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxoplasmosis

Halonen,

Weiss

2013

Handbook of Clinical Neurology

306

272

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In immunocompromised patients, such as AIDS patients with very low CD4 counts, patients under immunosuppression to prevent or treat transplant rejection and fetuses, a reactivation of an earlier infection, rather than a newly acquired one, is common. In these individuals the parasite can induce besides encephalitis and retinochoroiditis, carditis, pneumonia, and meningitis, among other manifestations [31]. Ocular toxoplasmosis is produced in most cases by breaking tissue cysts that are congenitally acquired; however, it can occur in acquired infections too.…”

Section: Toxoplasmosis In Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxoplasma gondii in Meat for Human Consumption – A Brief Review of the Most Described Strategies for Its Detection and Quantification

Paredes¹,

Ortega‐Pacheco²,

Rosado-Aguilar³

et al. 2016

Significance, Prevention and Control of Food Related Diseases

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Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic zoonotic disease widely distributed worldwide and is caused by the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The definitive host of T. gondii is the domestic cat and the entire cat family, in which the sexual stages of the parasite develop. T. gondii can also infect a wide range of intermediate hosts, affecting most warm-blooded animals including humans. In humans, toxoplasmosis is usually asymptomatic in healthy individuals, but can develop lymphadenopathy and nonspecific symptomatology or even be fatal in infants with congenital toxoplasmosis and in immunocompromised patients. Transmission to humans is mainly through food, especially by eating undercooked meat or meat contaminated with tissue cysts. This has led to various public health organizations worldwide monitoring programs on T. gondii in animals intended for human consumption, especially in meat samples. One of the techniques employed in the laboratory is that based on the polymerase chain reaction and some of its variants, which have proven to be valuable tools for the detection of T. gondii in tissues for human consumption and many other types of biological samples. The development of different strategies for the molecular detection of T. gondii has led to the identification and quantification methodologies varying widely among laboratories. Therefore, this chapter reviews the main methods of extraction, purification, detection and quantification of T. gondii DNA in tissue samples from different species destined for human consumption.

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“…While parasite genotype plays a major role mediating toxoplasmic infection of the eye, it certainly comes as no surprise that the host immune response is important as well. Work in Brazil has evaluated the role of polymorphisms in CCR5, TLR2, TLR4; identified a key role for IL-12 production in the development of protective responses 21 ; and provided new perspectives on the causes of ocular disease by establishing that T. gondii parasites circulate in the blood of immunocompetent toxoplasmosis patients, regardless of whether they have retinal lesions or not. 22 Hence, circulating parasites in the blood of chronically infected people may exist as a source of Toxoplasma capable of causing retinal disease, rather than the classically held thought that it is attributable to cyst rupture in the retina.…”

Section: Five Significant Lessons Learned From Brazilian Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%