The existence of an association between schizophrenia and an infection by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii has been suspected since the 1950s. Two significant phenomena first garnered the attention of the psychiatric community toward toxoplasmosis, the illness precipitated by an infection of the parasite. Transient symptoms of acute toxoplasmosis sometimes resemble the clinical picture ...

Toxoplasma gondii is an important apicomplexan parasite of humans and other warm-blooded animals. Ponazuril is a triazine anticoccidial recently approved for use in horses in the United States. We determined that ponazuril significantly inhibited T. gondii tachyzoite production (P < 0.05) at 5.0, 1.0, or 0.1 microg/ml in African green monkey kidney cells. We used outbred female CD-1 mice to det...

(See pages 716–717 for the Photo Quiz.) Figure 1. Bone marrow smear showing Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites (arrows). Diagnosis: Acute disseminated toxoplasmosis in a cord-blood transplant recipient. Figure 1 shows Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites, whereas Figure 2 portrays a cystic form within a macrophage. T. gondii was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction detection in bone marrow and blood spec...

Toxoplasmosis is caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a common intracellular protozoan parasites of human and animals. Certain individuals are at high risk of infection that includes, congenitally, fetuses, newborns, and immunocompromised individuals. Toxoplasmosis encephalitis (TE), and chorioretinitis has been described T.gondii infects herbivorous, omnivorous and carnivorous animals. The sexual cycl...

Toxoplasmosis is caused by a coccidian parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite is highly prevalent both in humans and in warm-blooded animals. Cat family animals are definitive host, and these animals excrete the infective oocysts in their feces. Humans, though not definitive host, get infection by consuming water or food contaminated with cat feces. Rarely, infection can also take place thro...

This study was performed in order to evaluate the sero-epidemiological status of toxoplasmosis in pregnant Korean women. Among 5,175 sera and 750 amniotic fluid samples obtained from pregnant women, 41 serum samples (0.79%) and 10 (1.33%) amniotic fluid samples tested positive for IgG antibodies by ELISA. Fifty one cases showing a score more than 0.25 on ELISA were tested for PCR reaction again...

Immunoglobulin levels in 47 children (age 13-20 years) with toxoplasmosis were compared with 46 age and sex matched controls. No significant difference was observed in mean serum immunoglobulin (IgG, IgA, IgM) levels between patients and controls but mean IgM levels were significantly (P) higher in children with acute toxoplasma infection. Total proteins were higher in patients while mean album...