TY - JOUR
T1 - A human origin type II strain of Toxoplasma gondii causing severe encephalitis in mice
AU - Djurković-Djaković, Olgica
AU - Klun, Ivana
AU - Khan, Asis
AU - Nikolić, Aleksandra
AU - Knežević-Ušaj, Slavica
AU - Bobić, Branko
AU - Sibley, L. David
N1 - Funding Information:
The results presented in this paper were presented at the International Conference on Women and Infectious Diseases (ICWID) in Atlanta, GA (USA), March 16–18, 2006. We thank Ms. Jordanka Djurović and Ms. Julie Suetterlin for expert technical assistance. This work was supported by grant M1474 from the Ministry of Science and Environmental Protection of Serbia (to O.Dj.Dj.), and partially supported by grant AI059176 from the National Institutes of Health (to L.D.S.).
PY - 2006/7
Y1 - 2006/7
N2 - Despite its capacity for sexual reproduction and global distribution, Toxoplasma gondii has a highly clonal structure, with the majority of isolates belonging to three distinct clonal types. Congenital toxoplasmosis has been associated with type I and type II strains. We here present the first characterization of a T. gondii strain (BGD1) from South-East Europe, isolated from the umbilical blood of a 24-week-old fetus in Serbia. Genotyping, performed by PCR-RFLP using a set of nested PCR markers (5′SAG2, 3′SAG2, BTUB, SAG3, and GRA6), showed that the BGD1 strain possessed a type II genotype. The cytokine patterns in Swiss-Webster mice inoculated with brain cysts of BGD1 and the prototype type II ME49 strain were similar until 180 days post-infection, with highly elevated IFN-γ, IL-12 and IL-10 by d7 and decreasing thereafter. While both strains induced pneumonia and hepatitis in acute infection (d14), chronic infection (d56) was characterized, in addition to hepatitis, by severe meningoencephalitis, associated with numerous brain cysts. Thus, the BGD1 strain of T. gondii has type II genotypic and immunologic characteristics, but unlike other type II strains of human origin, induces severe encephalitis, making it an alternative to the sheep-derived ME49 strain for experimental models of infection.
AB - Despite its capacity for sexual reproduction and global distribution, Toxoplasma gondii has a highly clonal structure, with the majority of isolates belonging to three distinct clonal types. Congenital toxoplasmosis has been associated with type I and type II strains. We here present the first characterization of a T. gondii strain (BGD1) from South-East Europe, isolated from the umbilical blood of a 24-week-old fetus in Serbia. Genotyping, performed by PCR-RFLP using a set of nested PCR markers (5′SAG2, 3′SAG2, BTUB, SAG3, and GRA6), showed that the BGD1 strain possessed a type II genotype. The cytokine patterns in Swiss-Webster mice inoculated with brain cysts of BGD1 and the prototype type II ME49 strain were similar until 180 days post-infection, with highly elevated IFN-γ, IL-12 and IL-10 by d7 and decreasing thereafter. While both strains induced pneumonia and hepatitis in acute infection (d14), chronic infection (d56) was characterized, in addition to hepatitis, by severe meningoencephalitis, associated with numerous brain cysts. Thus, the BGD1 strain of T. gondii has type II genotypic and immunologic characteristics, but unlike other type II strains of human origin, induces severe encephalitis, making it an alternative to the sheep-derived ME49 strain for experimental models of infection.
KW - Congenital toxoplasmosis
KW - Cytokines
KW - Genotyping
KW - Histopathology
KW - Murine infection
KW - PCR-RFLP
KW - Toxoplasma gondii
KW - Type II strains
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33748208159&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.micinf.2006.04.016
DO - 10.1016/j.micinf.2006.04.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 16797199
AN - SCOPUS:33748208159
SN - 1286-4579
VL - 8
SP - 2206
EP - 2212
JO - Microbes and Infection
JF - Microbes and Infection
IS - 8
ER -