Serotyping of Toxoplasma gondii: striking homogeneous pattern between symptomatic and asymptomatic infections within Europe and South America.

Field isolates of Toxoplasma gondii in Europe and North America have been grouped into three clonal lineages that display different virulence in mice. Whether the genetic structure of the parasite is related to clinical expression in humans has not yet been demonstrated. We developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay which uses lineage-specific, polymorphic polypeptides derived from the dense granule antigens, GRA5 and GRA6.

Artesunate-erythropoietin combination for murine cerebral malaria treatment.

Cerebral malaria is the most severe and rapidly fatal complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection. Despite appropriate anti-malarial treatment using quinine or artemisinin derivatives, 10-20% of mortality still occurs during the acute phase. To improve cerebral malaria outcome, adjunctive therapies are clearly needed.

Serotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in chronically infected pregnant women: predominance of type II in Europe and types I and III in Colombia (South America).

Isolates of Toxoplasma gondii, which is responsible for a wide range of clinical manifestations are grouped into three clonal lineages of different virulence in mice. However, it is not clear whether this genotypic pattern is associated with the clinical profile of the disease in humans nor is the geographical distribution of the genotypes known. This is mainly due to difficulties in obtaining parasitic DNA from patients.

Multicenter proficiency study for detection of Toxoplasma gondii in amniotic fluid by nucleic acid amplification methods.

Unlabelled: A proficiency panel was designed to assess the performance of nucleic acid amplification technologies for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii in amniotic fluid.

Methods: The proficiency panel consisted of five lyophilised coded samples in a range of concentration between 5 to 1000 parasites/ml and a negative control. The distribution also included a questionnaire on the applied methods.

Recombinant human erythropoietin prevents the death of mice during cerebral malaria.

Cerebral involvement during malaria is a complication that leads to seizure, coma, and death. The effect of new neuroprotective therapies has not yet been investigated, although cerebral malaria shares some features with neurological stroke. Erythropoietin (EPO) is one of the more promising drugs in this area.

Limited value of assays using detection of immunoglobulin G antibodies to the two recombinant dense granule antigens, GRA1 and GRA6 Nt of Toxoplasma gondii, for distinguishing between acute and chronic infections in pregnant women.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using two recombinant antigens of Toxoplasma gondii (GRA1 and GRA6 Nt) was developed in order to differentiate between pregnant women with a serological profile of recently acquired infection and those with chronic infection. Both proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli as glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins. Thirty-two serum samples from subjects who presented seroconversion within 3 months before sampling (group 1; acute profile), 46 serum samples from women who had a positive serology at least 1 year before sampling (group 2; chronic profile), and 100 serum samples from pregnant women who were not infected by T.

Migration and maturation of human dendritic cells infected with Toxoplasma gondii depend on parasite strain type.

Migration and maturation of human dendritic cells derived from CD34+ progenitor cells (DC) infected by Toxoplasma gondii were studied in an in vitro model. We demonstrated that infection with virulent type I strains RH and ENT or type II low virulent strains PRU and CAL induced DC migration towards MIP-3beta. However, type II strains induced a higher percentage of migrating cells than that induced by type I strains or positive controls (chemical allergen or lipopolysaccharides).

Characterization of an excreted/secreted antigen form of 14-3-3 protein in Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites.

The 14-3-3 protein was shown to be present into the parasitophorous vacuole of Toxoplasma gondii-infected human monocyte cells and in the excreted/secreted antigens (ESA). The ESA 14-3-3 protein migrates electrophoretically as the cytosol and the main membranous 14-3-3 isoforms. The excretion/secretion of 14-3-3 was not sensitive to cycloheximide, a protein synthesis inhibitor, even at a concentration which inhibited the production of 14-3-3 inside the tachyzoites.

Subcellular localization of 14-3-3 proteins in Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites and evidence for a lipid raft-associated form.

A polyclonal antibody was raised against a Toxoplasma gondii 14-3-3-gluthatione S-transferase fusion protein obtained by cloning a 14-3-3 cDNA sequence determined from the T. gondii database. This antibody specifically recognized T.

Progesterone fails to modulate Toxoplasma gondii replication in the RAW 264.7 murine macrophage cell line.

Cell mediated immunity is very important for host defence against intracellular pathogens and many studies have shown the role of the production of nitric oxide (NO) by interferon (IFN)-gamma/lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages. As the progesterone level increases during pregnancy in mammals, and as previous studies have shown that progesterone inhibits inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and NO production, we aimed to investigate whether progesterone might modulate intracellular replication of Toxoplasma gondii in macrophages. Our results showed that progesterone does not influence T.