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PubMed2004

Systemic toxoplasmosis in a five-month-old beaver, (Castor canadensis).

A 5-mo-old orphan beaver, Castor canadensis, died of severe systemic toxoplasmosis during rehabilitation. Histologic lesions included lymphohistiocytic encephalitis, myocarditis, and interstitial pneumonia with multinucleated cells. Intracytoplasmic cysts containing tachyzoites and bradyzoites identified as Toxoplasma gondii by immunohisto-chemistry were present in macrophages, type-II pneumocytes, and endothelial cells. Immunohistochemistry using a polyclonal morbillivirus antibody and transmission electron microscopy of lung revealed no evidence of concurrent paramyxoviral infection, as commonly found in carnivores with toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis may affect young beavers in rehabilitation and zoological settings.

Animals↗
PubMed2002

Toxoplasmosis in Pallas' cats (Otocolobus felis manul) at the Denver Zoological Gardens.

In May 1996 the Denver Zoological Gardens obtained two male and two female Pallas' cats (Otocolobus felis manul) that were wild-caught in the Ukraine. These animals were part of a group of 16 wild-caught adults (eight male and eight female) imported to the United States and Canada between 1995 and 1996. The Denver Zoological Gardens cats were quarantined at the zoo hospital for approximately I mo. During the quarantine period they were immobilized for physical examination, and sera were obtained from them to evaluate for exposure to Toxoplasma gondii. All cats were positive for T. gondii antibodies by latex agglutination (titers from 1:512 to 1:1,024). After being paired for breeding, one pair produced two litters, and another pair produced four litters, a total of 17 kittens between 1997 and 2001. Four kittens and two young adults died from a disseminated granulomatous and necrotizing inflammation consistent with toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasma gondii infection was confirmed in all six deceased cats by polymerase chain reaction performed on formalin-fixed tissues. An additional five kittens disappeared and were not available for necropsy. The fatality rate from toxoplasmosis was 35.3% (6/17) for cats that were available for necropsy and could have been as high as 64.7% (11/17) if it were assumed that the disappeared kittens were also affected. The Pallas' kitten survival rate at the Denver Zoological Gardens was 35.3%. This article describes the clinical and pathologic features of toxoplasmosis in a group of Pallas' cats at the Denver Zoological Gardens.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Buprenorphine does not affect acute murine toxoplasmosis and is recommended as an analgesic in Toxoplasma gondii studies in mice.

Groups of mice were infected with tachyzoites of the RH strain of Toxoplasma gondii, treated with the opioid analgesic buprenorphine, sodium sulfadiazine, a combination of buprenorphine and sodium sulfadiazine, or nothing in the drinking water, on days -1 to 12 postinfection. Mice in the T. gondii-infected buprenorphine-treated group did not live significantly longer (P > 0.05) than mice given T. gondii and not treated with buprenorphine. Clinical observations of mice indicated that buprenorphine treatment reduced distress and pain in mice with acute toxoplasmosis. Mice treated with sodium sulfadiazine alone or sodium sulfadiazine combined with buprenorphine survived the 28-day study. Mice treated with buprenorphine and not infected with T. gondii also survived the 28 days. This study demonstrates that buprenorphine does not adversely interfere with acute T. gondii infection and indicates that buprenorphine can be given to mice to alleviate pain and distress associated with a T. gondii infection, and not adversely influence the results of toxoplasmosis studies. Analgesic (buprenorphine) treatment should now be the standard of care for mice in acute toxoplasmosis studies.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2001

Congenital toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite, has three modes of transmission: oral intake of raw or undercooked meat or contaminated fruits and vegetables, ingestion of materials contaminated with cat feces, and transplacental infection. The focus of this article is congenital toxoplasmosis, which is transmitted to the fetus across the placenta. When primary infection of the mother occurs during pregnancy, there is a 40 percent chance of fetal infection; rate of transmission and severity of infection are related to gestational age at the time of infection. The brain and retina are often affected, and there can be a wide range of clinical disease. Amniocentesis or cordocentesis provides the most accurate diagnosis. At birth, 80-90 percent of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis are asymptomatic. But further testing may reveal retinal and central nervous system abnormalities, and there is a risk of long-term sequelae. Chorioretinitis, hydrocephalus, intracranial calcifications, and convulsions are the typical presentation of classic congenital toxoplasmosis. Serology is the most common method of diagnosing neonatal infection, but more complex tests are also utilized. The prognosis for the untreated infant is poor; however, when antibiotic therapy is started early, the rate of sequelae is reduced significantly.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Cytomegalovirus infections and toxoplasmosis in heart transplant recipients in Sweden.

The morbidity of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and toxoplasmosis was evaluated in 75 heart transplant recipients. Among the 73 patients who survived more than one week after transplantation, 16 (22%) acquired primary CMV infection and 30 (41%) had evidence of secondary infection. All CMV seronegative recipients receiving hearts from seropositive donors developed CMV infection. The majority of infections (42/46) occurred during the first 4 months after transplantation. Overall, the incidence of symptomatic CMV disease was 44%. The infections were generally mild and only 1 death was attributed to primary CMV disease complicated by bacterial septicaemia and multiple organ failure. The severity of CMV disease was greatest among those with primary infection. There were 3 cases of toxoplasmosis. Two patients were toxoplasma seronegative before transplantation and developed clinical and serological signs of infection 2-3 months after transplantation despite receiving organs from seronegative donors. Of toxoplasma seronegative recipients receiving allografts from seropositive donors 3/4 were prophylactically treated with pyrimethamine for 6 weeks. None developed clinical or serological signs of toxoplasmosis while one patient who received trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole had a subclinical infection.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

Treatment of toxoplasmosis with trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole.

Toxoplasmosis is known to complicate diseases with impaired cellular immunity. For treatment of toxoplasma infections atoxic drugs should be used to avoid depression of the bone marrow. The hitherto recommended treatment, pyrimethamine in combination with sulphonamides, is often associated with severe side-effects. The present study presents the results of treatment with trimethoprim and sulphamethoxazole in 7 patients, clinically and serologically diagnosed as having toxoplasmosis. Good therapeutic results were observed in 5 patients with lymphoglandular toxoplasmosis and a significant reduction of the dye test titres were found in 6 patients. In one patient, however, a relapse of clinical symptoms and a reversion to high dye test titres were observed 6 1/2 months after the end of the treatment. Treatment had to be discontinued in one patient due to an allergic reaction.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Recurrent toxoplasmosis.

A case of recurrent toxoplasmosis in a previously healthy 34-year-old woman is reported. Although she was treated 3 times with co-trimoxazole, which in our experience has been efficient in the treatment of toxoplasmosis, and responded to treatment clinically and serologically, she relapsed with clinical symptoms and rise of anti-toxoplasma titres. Hypothetically, toxoplasmosis is a latent infection which can be activated by other diseases and by immunodepression.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Diagnosis and epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in Korea.

Toxoplasma gondii can cause congenital as well as postnatal toxoplasmosis in humans and animals, and thereby elicit various kinds and grades of clinical manifestations. In the human host, especially the congenital type gives rise to serious complications and sequelae such as blindness and hydrocephalus. Serological tests such as Sabin-Feldman dye test, indirect hemagglutination test, indirect fluorescent antibody test, indirect latex agglutination test, agglutination test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and detection of circulating antigens or antibodies are popularly used for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. In Korea, several local surveys during the past 20-30 years have shown that the antibody positive rates of patients in general hospitals ranged from 1.9% to 7.2%. Special clinical attention should be paid to immunocompromised patients, since immunosuppression is known to activate and aggravate latent toxoplasmosis, and in such cases the patients are often led to encephalitis, coma and death.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Molecular cloning of ribosomal P protein in Toxoplasma gondii and the availability to detect antibody against recombinant protein in toxoplasmosis patients.

Among the panel of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against Toxoplasma gondii, mAb of Tg621 (Tg621) clone blotted 38 kDa protein which localized in the cytoplasm of tachyzoites by immunofluorescence microscopy. The protein was not released into the parasitophorous vacuole during or after invasion. The cDNA fragment encoding the protein was obtained by screening a T. gondii cDNA expression library with Tg621. The full length cDNA sequence was completed with 5'-RACE as 1,592 bp, which contained open reading frame of 942 bp. The deduced amino acid sequence of Tg621 consisted of a polypeptide of 313 amino acids, with significant homology to ribosomal P proteins (RPP) of other organisms especially high to those of apicomplexan species. The expressed and purified TgRPP was assayed in western blot with the sera of toxoplasmosis patients and normal sera, which resulted in the 74.0% of positive reactions in toxoplasmosis patients whereas 8.3% in normal group. Therefore, the antibody formation against TgRPP in toxoplasmosis patients was regarded as specific for T. gondii infection and suggested a potential autoantibody.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2005

Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in Korean pregnant women.

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 against the SAG1 gene. Only one case of the 51 ELISA positive cases exhibited a positive reaction on all tests. This case had a history of acute nephropyelitis during early pregnancy, but fortunately, had delivered a phenotypically healthy baby. In this study, the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women was found to be comparatively low, consistent with previous reports from Korea. However our trials, performed with a variety of diagnostic tools, were considered to be useful for the precise diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Incidence of toxoplasmosis in patients with cirrhosis.

AIM: It is known that toxoplasmosis rarely leads to various liver pathologies, most common of which is granulomatose hepatitis in patients having normal immune systems. Patients who have cirrhosis of the liver are subject to a variety of cellular as well as humoral immunity disorders. Therefore, it may be considered that toxoplasmosis can cause more frequent and more severe diseases in patients with cirrhosis and is capable of changing the course of the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of toxoplasmosis in patients with cirrhosis. METHODS: Serum samples were taken from 108 patients with cirrhosis under observation in the Hepatology Polyclinic of the Gastroenterology Clinic, and a control group made up of 50 healthy blood donors. IFAT and ELISA methods were used to investigate the IgG and IgM antibodies, which had developed from these sera. RESULTS: Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibody positivity was found in 74 (68.5%) of the 108 cirrhotic patients and 24 (48%) of the 50 people in the control group. The difference between them was significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, it was found that the toxoplasma sero-prevalence in the cirrhotic patients in this study was higher. Cirrhotic patients are likely to form a toxoplasma risk group. More detailed studies are needed on this subject.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Congenital toxoplasmosis presenting as isolated acute chorioretinitis in the neonate.

We describe a neonate with congenital ocular toxoplasmosis that presented as isolated, acute bilateral retinochoroiditis. Although toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis is not rare, it is quite unusual to diagnose congenital toxoplasmosis based on isolated bilateral retinochoroiditis in an otherwise healthy neonate. Bilateral retinochoroiditis can be caused by syphilis, herpes virus, cytomegalovirus, and toxoplasmosis. Because specific treatments now exist for these conditions, it is important to establish proper diagnosis so that treatment can be initiated promptly. The differential diagnosis, work-up, and management of retinochoroiditis in the newborn is presented and discussed.

Chorioretinitis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cerebral toxoplasmosis in HIV/AIDS: a case report.

This is a case of HIV infection with cerebral toxoplasmosis. Cerebral toxoplasmosis is an AIDS- related infection and is one of the causes of CNS mass lesions in AIDS. A 36-year-old male was admitted at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) for a week. He had focal seizures for which he was treated as an "epileptic" with herbal preparations. A computerized tomography (CT) head scan revealed the characteristic scan findings in CNS toxoplasmosis.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2003

Gastric toxoplasmosis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. A case report and review of the literature.

Toxoplasmosis is a common opportunistic pathogen in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It usually presents with ocular, central nervous system, or pulmonary disease. Gastric toxoplasmosis is uncommon in AIDS patients, especially in the absence of central nervous system manifestations. In the few reported cases, patients have presented with abdominal pain and other digestive complaints that usually are attributed to the more common gastrointestinal manifestations of human immunodeficiency virus infection. We describe a 49-year-old man with AIDS who presented with abdominal pain, diarrhea, dry cough, and systemic symptoms and was diagnosed with toxoplasmosis by a gastric biopsy.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed2005

Gastric toxoplasmosis as the presentation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

We report a case of a 39-year-old West African man with unknown human immunodeficiency virus status diagnosed with gastric toxoplasmosis as the presenting manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Toxoplasma gondii is common in severely immunosuppressed patients and most frequently involves the central nervous system, followed by the eye, myocardium and skeletal muscle, lungs, bone marrow, and peripheral blood. For unclear reasons, gastrointestinal involvement is exceedingly rare and occurs in the context of severe immunosuppression and disseminated disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the English literature of a patient with isolated, manifest gastric toxoplasmosis without evidence of concomitant cerebral or extracerebral involvement. It is important for both the clinician and the pathologist to maintain a high index of suspicion for toxoplasmosis in immunosuppressed patients presenting with nonspecific symptoms of gastritis and radiologic and endoscopic presence of thickened gastric folds with or without ulceration.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗
PubMed1976

Toxoplasmosis in the compromised host.

In 81 cases of toxoplasmosis in patients with neoplasia, collagen-vascular disorders, and organ allografts, the clinical manifestations were highly variable but neurologic syndromes consistent with diffuse encephalopathy, meningoencephalitis, or cerebral mass lesions predominated. Many concomitant infections with DNA viruses were seen. The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis was not made until postmortem examination in most cases. Biopsy of lymph nodes or brain and serologic tests needed for definitive diagnosis were done infrequently. Twenty patients received antitoxoplasma chemotherapy (pyrimethamine and sulfonamide), 16 (80%) showing marked clinical improvement or complete remission. In immunosuppressed hosts disseminated toxoplasmosis appears to result from defects in cellular immunity that permit recrudescence of latent infection. Because cell-mediated immunity to Toxoplasma gondii can be enhanced in animals by administration of adjuvants, immunotherapy may become a useful adjunct to chemotherapy in immunoincompetent humans suffering potentially lethal infection.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and cerebral toxoplasmosis in an adult patient, with no symptoms of underlying immunosuppressing illness.

We present a case of the coincidence of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) and central nervous system (CNS) toxoplasmosis in an adult patient, without a detectable cause of cell-mediated immunity impairment. The proper diagnosis was made postmortem on the basis of histological changes typical of both pathological processes. PML was characterized by the presence of subcortical focal demyelination, containing enlarged, densely basophilic oligodendrocyte nuclei, often with intranuclear inclusion, and bizarre astrocytes, mimicking neoplastic cells. PML was confirmed by detecting numerous papova virus particles in oligo- and astroglial nuclei by thin-section electron microscopy. Cerebral toxoplasmosis was characterized by the presence of multiple well-circumscribed necrotizing abscesses. Numerous Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) cysts and free, non-encysted protozoan parasites were found among the inflammatory infiltrates. The diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis was further confirmed by immunocytochemistry. In order to detect putative immunosuppressive background underlying both pathological processes, HIV infection was taken into consideration, however, no histopathological changes indicative of AIDS either in the CNS or in the peripheral organs were eventually found. Moreover no HIV provirus genome was identified in the formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded brain tissue by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Current view on the selected aspects of the pathogenesis of both disorders were discussed.

Antigen Presentation↗
PubMed1998

[Potential risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in cases with recently acquired toxoplasmosis].

Investigation of potential risk factors for T. gondii infection was performed in 31 cases with a recently acquired toxoplasmosis in comparison with 34 seronegative patients as a control group. Epidemiological study was performed according to a questionnaire elaborated by European Research Network on Congenital Toxoplasmosis. Essential risk factors for toxoplasmosis in examined population were: consumption of raw pork (p < 0.00001), raw meat tasting during meal preparation (p < 0.00001), eating salami (p = 0.03), professional contact with meat (p = 0.02) and drinking milk (p = 0.02) or untreated water (p = 0.01). In seronegative controls more common were university education (p = 0.001), washing hands after handling raw meat (p = 0.04) and washing fruit and vegetables (p = 0.03).

Adolescent↗