Immune system roles in pathogenesis, prognosis, control, and treatment of Toxoplasma gondii infection

Mohammad Mahdi Jafari; Zahra Azimzadeh Tabrizi; Mohammad Saaid Dayer; Nazanin Atieh Kazemi-Sefat; Mahshid Mohtashamifard; Rahimeh Mohseni; Atefeh Bagheri; Saeed Bahadory; Amir Karimipour-Saryazdi; Fatemeh Ghaffarifar

doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110872

Immune system roles in pathogenesis, prognosis, control, and treatment of Toxoplasma gondii infection

Int Immunopharmacol. 2023 Nov;124(Pt A):110872. doi: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110872. Epub 2023 Sep 1.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
² Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
³ Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: ghafarif@modares.ac.ir.

PMID: 37660595
DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110872

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is the protozoan causative agent of toxoplasmosis in humans and warm-blooded animals. Recent studies have illustrated that the immune system plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis by triggering immune cytokines like IL-12, TNF-α, and IFN-γ and immune cells like DCs, Th1, and Th17. On the other hand, some immune components can serve as prognosis markers of toxoplasmosis. In healthy people, the disease is often asymptomatic, but immunocompromised people and newborns may suffer severe symptoms and complications. Therefore, the immune prognostic markers may provide tools to measure the disease progress and help patients to avoid further complications. Immunotherapies using monoclonal antibody, cytokines, immune cells, exosomes, novel vaccines, and anti-inflammatory molecules open new horizon for toxoplasmosis treatment. In this review article, we discussed the immunopathogenesis, prognosis, and immunotherapy of Toxoplasma gondii infection.

Keywords: Immunotherapy; Prognosis; Toxoplasma gondii; Toxoplasmosis.

Publication types

Review