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Virulence of atypical Toxoplasma gondii strains isolated in French Guiana in a murine model

Authors :
Simon Stéphane
de Thoisy Benoit
Mercier Aurélien
Nacher Mathieu
Demar Magalie
Source :
Parasite, Vol 26, p 60 (2019)
Publication Year :
2019
Publisher :
EDP Sciences, 2019.

Abstract

Background. Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite of warm-blooded vertebrates. Most infections in immunocompetent patients are asymptomatic. However, since 2000s, strains with particular genetic profiles that differ from the known clonal type (type I, II, III), have been described. In French Guiana, these strains are highly pathogenic in immunocompetent patients. They have defined a new clinical entity called Amazonian Toxoplasmosis. The present study aims to further improve our knowledge on the pathogenicity of these Amazonian T. gondii strains in comparison with three reference strains using Swiss strain mice. With these data, we tried to establish a predictive virulence score to classify these strains, but also to correlate this virulence with the severity of the disease in infected patients. Results. All the virulence indicators revealed that the Amazonian strains isolated in French Guiana presented a high virulence profile, but lower than the highly virulent type I reference RH strain. The findings reveal differences in virulence between human and animal strains, but also between anthropized and wild strains. Conclusion. In addition to being a clinically relevant animal model of Amazonian Toxoplasmosis, this model could also provide a solid experimental basis for future studies aiming to investigate the underlying mechanisms of Amazonian Toxoplasmosis disease.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
17761042
Volume :
26
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Parasite
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.58b3866d77924d9faa9a2f1e97ed4eb2
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1051/parasite/2019048