Placental Dysfunction and Acute Toxoplasmosis: The Role of Melatonin in Relation to Inflammatory Cytokines Interleukin-10 and Interleukin-12.

Objective: The objective of this study was to elucidate the potential role of anti-inflammatory interleukin (IL)-10 and pro-inflammatory (IL-12) cytokines as well as melatonin (MEL) in the development of placental dysfunction in the pregnant women with acquired toxoplasmosis (TOX).

Materials And Methods: This case-control study was carried out at the Department of Clinical Parasitology in teamwork with the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital, College of Medicine, Al-Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq, from September 2018 to February 2019. The recruited patients and healthy controls were allocated into two groups - Group A: pregnant women with acute TOX ( = 45) and Group B: healthy pregnant women ( = 25).