Evaluation of aversive behavior in Rattus norvegicus experimentally infected by two distinct strains of Toxoplasma gondii (ME49 and VEG): study of epigenetic markers.

Background: Behavioral changes in Rattus norvegicus infected with two strains of Toxoplasma gondii (ME49 and VEG) were investigated.

Methods: Rats were evaluated for motor activity and aversion or attraction to cat urine 60 days after infection. After euthanasia, arginine-vasopressin gene methylation in the central nervous system was evaluated.

Human Toxocariasis: 2010 to 2020 Contributions from Brazilian Researchers.

This is a review of the published contributions made by Brazilian researchers between 2010 and 2020 on the natural history of human toxocariasis and the effects of human toxocariasis on nonhuman paratenic hosts.

Experimental toxocariasis in BALB/c mice: relationship between parasite inoculum and the IgG immune response.

BALB/c mice were inoculated with 5-500 Toxocara canis infective eggs, and bled at 15-120 days post infection (dpi) to evaluate the dynamics of IgG antibody response and larvae distribution. Positive results were observed in all occasions for every inoculum, and a direct proportional relationship between antibody detection and the parasitic load was observed. In samples collected at 60 dpi, detection of IgG was more intense, especially with the 50 and 500 egg doses; also, a correlation between antibody level and egg count was observed with these two inocula.

EFFICACY OF NITAZOXANIDE AGAINST Toxocara canis: LARVAL RECOVERY AND HUMORAL IMMUNE RESPONSE IN EXPERIMENTALLY INFECTED MICE.

The efficacy of nitazoxanide (NTZ) against toxocariasis was investigated in an experimental murine model and results were compared to those obtained using mebendazole. Sixty male BALB/c mice, aged six to eight weeks-old, were divided into groups of 10 each; fifty were orally infected with 300 larvaed eggs of T. canis and grouped as follows, G I: infected untreated mice; G II: infected mice treated with MBZ (15 mg/kg/day) 10 days postinfection (dpi); G III: infected mice treated with NTZ (20 mg/kg/day) 10 dpi; G IV: infected mice treated with MBZ 60 dpi; G V: infected mice treated with NTZ 60 dpi; GVI: control group comprising uninfected mice.

Behavioral and memory changes in Mus musculus coinfected by Toxocara canis and Toxoplasma gondii.

Several researchers have stated that parasites can alter the behavior of their hosts, in order to increase the transmission rate, principally when prey-predator relationships are a reliable way of infection transmission. The aim of this study was to verify the occurrence of changes in anxiety and short-term memory patterns in experimentally infected Mus musculus by Toxocara canis and/or Toxoplasma gondii. Forty male Mus musculus (Balb/c) eight-week-old were divided into four groups of 10 mice each.

Human toxocariasis: contribution by Brazilian researchers.

In the present paper the main aspects of the natural history of human infection by Toxocara larvae that occasionally result in the occurrence of visceral and/or ocular larva migrans syndrome were reviewed. The contribution by Brazilian researchers was emphasized, especially the staff of the Tropical Medicine Institute of São Paulo (IMT).

[Contamination of public gardens along seafront of Praia Grande City, São Paulo, Brazil, by eggs of Ancylostoma and Toxocara in dogs feces].

Contamination of the lawns and flower beds along the seafront of Praia Grande, SP, Brazil, by eggs of Ancylostoma and Toxocara in fecal samples of dogs was evaluated. Of the total samples analyzed, 45.9% were contaminated with Ancylostoma eggs and 1.