Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Brains and Brawn: Toxoplasma Infections of the Central Nervous System and Skeletal Muscle

 2017 May 5. pii: S1471-4922(17)30102-2. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2017.04.001. [Epub ahead of print]

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread parasitic pathogen that infects over a third of the world's population. Following an acute infection, the parasite can persist within its mammalian host as intraneuronal or intramuscular cysts. Cysts will occasionally reactivate, and - depending on the host's immune status and site of reactivation - encephalitis or myositis can develop. Because these diseases have high levels of morbidity and can be lethal, it is important to understand how Toxoplasma traffics to these tissues, how the immune response controls parasite burden and contributes to tissue damage, and what mechanisms underlie neurological and muscular pathologies that toxoplasmosis patients present with. This review aims to summarize recent important developments addressing these critical topics.

KEYWORDS: 

Plasmodium; blood–brain barrier; chronic infections; myositis; parasite; seizures
PMID:
 
28483381
 
DOI:
 
10.1016/j.pt.2017.04.001

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