[Expression of Toll-like receptor 4 in brain tissue of chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection rats and its effect on brain injury]

To explore the expression of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in brain tissue of chronic Toxoplasma infection rats and its effect on brain injury.Ten male SD rats were randomly divided into 2 groups, namely control and infection groups. Each rat in the infection group was intraperitoneal injected with Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites 10(7)/ml x 2 ml, and that in the control group was injected with 2 ml sterile normal sodium. After 10 weeks, the expression of TLR4 mRNA in the brain was determined by RT-PCR, and the levels of IL-1beta and IL-4 in peripheral blood sera were detected by ELISA.Compared with the control group, the expression of TLR4 gene and the peripheral blood serum level of IL-1beta of rats in the Toxoplasma gondii infection group were both significantly increased, with all P values were less than 0.05, and the level of IL-4 was also increased, but the difference had no statistically significance (P0.05).TLR4 might be involved in inflammatory reactions of brain injury for chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection rats.