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Toxoplasmosis is considered to be the third leading cause of death attributed to foodborne illness in the United States. More than 60 million men, women, and children in the U.S. carry the Toxoplasma parasite, but very few have symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness. However, women newly infected with Toxoplasma during pregnancy and anyone with a compromised immune system should be aware that toxoplasmosis can have severe consequences for them.
Discovery could lead to new treatment methods for toxoplasmosis

Discovery could lead to new treatment methods for toxoplasmosis

The parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis requires a stress response system that helps it survive the move to infect new cells, Indiana University School of Medicine scientists have reported, a discovery that could lead to new treatments to control the disease. [More]
New study shows CDPK1 controls toxoplasma's ability to secrete microneme proteins

New study shows CDPK1 controls toxoplasma's ability to secrete microneme proteins

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a parasite protein that has all the makings of a microbial glass jaw: it's essential, it's vulnerable and humans have nothing like it, meaning scientists can take pharmacological swings at it with minimal fear of collateral damage. [More]
MUHC's Henry C. Witelson Ocular Pathology Laboratory celebrates tenth anniversary

MUHC's Henry C. Witelson Ocular Pathology Laboratory celebrates tenth anniversary

The Burnier International Ocular Pathology Society is holding a Scientific Colloquium in Montreal today to mark the tenth anniversary of the McGill University Health Centre's Henry C. Witelson Ocular Pathology Laboratory. The lab is an internationally reputed centre for the study and treatment of eye diseases and is leading a global network for the sharing of healthcare knowledge and expertise. [More]
Immune system mouse models help study biology of T cells and their role in toxoplasmosis

Immune system mouse models help study biology of T cells and their role in toxoplasmosis

Using T cells primed for the infectious disease toxoplasmosis, Whitehead Institute researchers have created novel mouse models of the immune system that more accurately reflect how immune cells actually respond to pathogens in their presence. [More]
New article in Women's Health journal emphasizes the importance of early pregnancy detection

New article in Women's Health journal emphasizes the importance of early pregnancy detection

A new article published in the peer-reviewed journal Women's Health emphasizes the importance of early pregnancy detection. Using research conducted on behalf of Church & Dwight Co. Inc., the makers of First Response, the article reviews data that shows not all at-home pregnancy tests are created equal -First Response brand pregnancy tests are more sensitive and able to detect key variants of the pregnancy hormone better than other at home pregnancy tests. [More]
Researchers discover new strategy against invasive parasite

Researchers discover new strategy against invasive parasite

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a possible strategy against an invasive parasite that infects more than a quarter of the world's population, including 50 million Americans. [More]
USDA donates funds for teaching food safety awareness to AIDS patients

USDA donates funds for teaching food safety awareness to AIDS patients

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health have received a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to educate AIDS patients on food safety. [More]
UT Southwestern Medical Center: Human gut bacteria ward off Toxoplasma gondii

UT Southwestern Medical Center: Human gut bacteria ward off Toxoplasma gondii

Immunology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that bacteria present in the human gut help initiate the body's defense mechanisms against Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis. [More]
Prenatal exposure to influenza virus shown to reduce intelligence in adulthood

Prenatal exposure to influenza virus shown to reduce intelligence in adulthood

The Hong Kong flu pandemic was responsible for more than 700,000 deaths worldwide in the late 1960s, with major disease outbreaks in Europe in the winter of 1969-1970. [More]
Locking parasites in host cell could be new way to fight malaria

Locking parasites in host cell could be new way to fight malaria

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that parasites hijack host-cell proteins to ensure their survival and proliferation, suggesting new ways to control the diseases they cause. [More]
Toxoplasmosis linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorders

Toxoplasmosis linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorders

Scientists have discovered how the toxoplasmosis parasite may trigger the development of schizophrenia and other bipolar disorders. [More]
Scientists pinpoint immune-system targets in complex pathogens

Scientists pinpoint immune-system targets in complex pathogens

Our immune cells have an amazingly intricate recognition system to detect invading pathogens. Often, the intricacies have overwhelmed scientists who want to know exactly what gives an alarm signal to T cells, a class of white blood cells that recognizes invaders. [More]
Parasites that live inside cells use loophole to thwart immune system

Parasites that live inside cells use loophole to thwart immune system

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered a mechanism by which intracellular pathogens can shut down one of the body's key chemical weapons against them: nitric oxide. [More]

Parasites that live inside cells use loophole to thwart immune system

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have discovered a mechanism by which intracellular pathogens can shut down one of the body's key chemical weapons against them: nitric oxide. The researchers found that the microbes block nitric oxide production by subverting the biochemical machinery used by immune cells called macrophages to produce the chemical. [More]

Persistent bacterial infection exploits killing machinery of immune cells

A new study reveals an important and newly discovered pathway used by disease-causing bacteria to evade the host immune system and survive and grow within the very cells meant to destroy them. This discovery may lead to new treatments and vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) and certain other chronic bacterial and parasitic infections. [More]

Discovery of new pathway used by disease-causing bacteria to evade host immune system and survive

A new study reveals an important and newly discovered pathway used by disease-causing bacteria to evade the host immune system and survive and grow within the very cells meant to destroy them. This discovery may lead to new treatments and vaccines for tuberculosis (TB) and certain other chronic bacterial and parasitic infections. [More]
Discovery of potential key to better drugs to fight Toxoplasmosis parasite

Discovery of potential key to better drugs to fight Toxoplasmosis parasite

Discoveries by IU School of Medicine scientists have opened a promising door to new drugs for toxoplasmosis and other parasites that now can evade treatments by turning dormant in the body. [More]
Misoprostol off-label use may have led to deaths

Misoprostol off-label use may have led to deaths

Preliminary U-M studies indicate that oral use of RU-486's companion drug misoprostol is safe, but vaginal use may undermine body's immune responses [More]
New malaria drug also treats toxoplasmosis

New malaria drug also treats toxoplasmosis

A new drug that will soon enter clinical trials for treatment of malaria also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine in the current gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a related parasite that infects nearly one-third of all humans—more than two billion people worldwide. [More]
Blocking parasites' communication reduces infection

Blocking parasites' communication reduces infection

One of the most common human parasites, Toxoplasma gondii, uses a hormone lifted from the plant world to decide when to increase its numbers and when to remain dormant, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. [More]