European and North American strains of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii belong to three distinct clonal lineages, type I, type II, and type III, which differ in virulence. Understanding the basis of Toxoplasma strain differences and how secreted effectors work to achieve chronic infection is a major goal of current research. Here we show that type I and III infected macrophages, a cell type requi...

BACKGROUND Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic parasitic organism causing infection in many mammals, including immunosuppressed patients. Toxoplasmosis as an opportunistic infection is highly prevalent among patients receiving a kidney transplant. OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to identify and determine the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in clinical samples collected from patient...

Modification of macrophage phagosomes begins shortly after formation as Toxoplasma cells secrete membranous vesicles that form a reticulate network within the vacuole. The Toxoplasma-modified compartments then resist normal endocytic processing and digestion. We have used the pronounced Ca++-dependent stability of the intraphagosomal membrane (IPM) network to purify and characterize the structu...

Background: Maternal Toxoplasma gondii infection during pregnancy can cause significant morbidity and mortality in the developing fetuses. But there is a little consensus about screening during pregnancy and the test used to establish a Toxoplasmosis diagnosis are complex. Objective: The objective is to determine the seropositivity rate of Toxoplasma gondii IgG/ IgM in maternal and fetal compar...

The multiplication of Toxoplasma gondii was quantitated in human monocytes in vitro by phase-contrast microscopy. Toxoplasma multiplication was identical in monocytes from subjects byt was significantly inhibited in cells from both sources if the monocytes were preincubated with immune lymphocytes and toxoplasma monocytes were preincubated with immune lymphocytes and toxoplasma antigen. Superna...

2 SUMMARY Between 20 % and 60 % of the population of most countries are infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Subjects with clinically asymptomatic lifelong latent toxoplasmosis differ from those who are Toxoplasma free in several behavioral parameters. Case-control studies cannot decide whether these differences already existed before infection or whether they were induced by the pres...

BACKGROUND Conflicting data have been reported about the effect of Toxoplasma serostatus on mortality after heart transplantation. Either a positive or a negative recipient Toxoplasma serostatus was found to be associated with increased mortality. METHODS We evaluated the effects of T. gondii infection on survival of our 582 cardiac allograft recipients operated upon between June 1984 and Jul...

Lonomycin A at various concentrations was tested for its inhibitory effect on Toxoplasma multiplication in host cells cultured in vitro. Results indicate that lonomycin A at a concentration of 0.01 micrograms per ml in TC-199 medium demonstrated a high degree of antitoxoplasma activity with complete inhibition of Toxoplasma multiplication in the host cells. Lymphokines, a supernatant produced f...