Toxoplasma gondii News and Research

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Study demonstrates how parasites enter the brain to influence its host

Toxoplasma is a common 'cat parasite', and has previously been in the spotlight owing to its observed effect on risk-taking and other human behaviours. To some extent, it has also been associated with mental illness. A study led by researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now demonstrates for the first time how the parasite enters the brain to influence its host.

7 Dec 2012

Toxoplasmosis linked to greater schizophrenia severity

Schizophrenia patients infected with Toxoplasma gondii have more severe symptomatology than those without the infection, researchers report.

6 Nov 2012

CUMC researchers develop first true mouse model of typhoid infection

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created the first true mouse model of typhoid infection. The development promises to advance the study of typhoid and the creation of new vaccines against the infection, which remains a major health threat in developing countries.

26 Oct 2012

Researchers identify IL-27 molecule involved in counterbalancing the immune system attack

We couldn't live without our immune systems, always tuned to detect and eradicate invading pathogens and particles. But sometimes the immune response goes overboard, triggering autoimmune diseases like lupus, asthma or inflammatory bowel disease.

29 Sep 2012

T. gondii can cause inflammation in the brain

A parasite thought to be harmless and found in many people may actually be causing subtle changes in the brain, leading to suicide attempts.

17 Aug 2012

Antisense therapy shows promise in treating toxoplasmosis

A targeted approach to treating toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease, shows early promise in test-tube and animal studies, where it prevented the parasites from making selected proteins. When tested in newly infected mice, it reduced the number of viable parasites by more than 90 percent, researchers from the University of Chicago Medicine report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

14 Aug 2012

T. gondii link to schizophrenia supported

Study results support an associated between maternal infection with Toxoplasma gondii and an increased risk for schizophrenia in offspring.

24 Jul 2012

New insight into immune-cell movement patterns

By pairing an intimate knowledge of immune-system function with a deep understanding of statistical physics, a cross-disciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania has arrived at a surprising finding: T cells use a movement strategy to track down parasites that is similar to strategies that predators such as monkeys, sharks and blue-fin tuna use to hunt their prey.

28 May 2012

Toxoplasma gondii directly affects production of dopamine in brain

A research group from the University of Leeds has shown that infection by the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, found in 10-20 per cent of the UK's population, directly affects the production of dopamine, a key chemical messenger in the brain.

5 Nov 2011

Cornell researchers identify how T. gondii controls host's immune system

Toxoplasma gondii parasites can invade your bloodstream, break into your brain and prompt behavioral changes from recklessness to neuroticism. These highly contagious protozoa infect more than half the world's population, and most people's immune systems never purge the intruders.

22 Sep 2011

CD8 alpha+ dendritic cells can help the body beat back infection

The same trait that makes a rare immune cell invaluable in fighting some infections also can be exploited by other diseases to cause harm, two new studies show.

29 Aug 2011

Researchers characterise protein complex linked to malaria and toxoplasmosis

Maryse Lebrun, Research Director at Inserm, and her fellow researchers at the Laboratoire Dynamique des interactions membranaires normales et pathologiques, have characterised a protein complex that allows the agents that cause malaria and toxoplasmosis to infect host cells.

25 Jul 2011

Eighteen scientists receive Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation awards

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 18 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.

7 Jul 2011

VIDAS TOXO IgG Avidity assay to test for recent Toxoplasma gondii infection receives FDA clearance

On May 18, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared the first test to help determine whether a pregnant woman or a person with swollen lymph nodes testing positive for toxoplasmosis, sometimes known as cat scratch disease, developed the infection within the past four months.

20 May 2011

Food poisoning costs the United States billions: Report

According to a new report published Thursday, 14 different pathogens causing food poisoning cost the United States $14 billion annually in terms of human disease. The report comes from the University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute that found that out of all the pathogen-food combinations they studied, campylobacter in poultry was the single worst offender, causing more than 600,000 illnesses per year, hospitalizing more than 7,000 people and costing, annually, $1.3 billion and 9,500 quality-of-life years.

29 Apr 2011

Study: Pseudokinases can play a crucial role in pathogen-based disease

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Stanford University discovered that a supposedly inactive protein actually plays a crucial role in the ability of one the world's most prolific pathogens to cause disease, findings that suggest the possible role of similarly errant proteins in other diseases.

1 Apr 2011

New findings help explain why toxoplasmosis causes serious disease

Providing clues into why the severity of a common parasitic infection can vary greatly from person to person, a new Johns Hopkins study shows that each one of three strains of the cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma gondii sets off a unique reaction in the nerve cells it invades.

15 Mar 2011

Study reports ROP18 protein protects parasite in host cell

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have learned why changes in a single gene, ROP18, contribute substantially to dangerous forms of the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The answer has likely moved science a step closer to new ways to beat Toxoplasma and many other parasites.

28 Dec 2010

Antibacterial ingredient in soap becomes guiding light for future development of drugs for toxoplasmosis

The antibacterial ingredient in some soaps, toothpastes, odor-fighting socks, and even computer keyboards is pointing scientists toward a long-sought new treatment for a parasitic disease that affects almost two billion people. Their report on how triclosan became the guiding light for future development of drugs for toxoplasmosis appears in ACS' monthly Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

23 Sep 2010

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.

21 Sep 2010