AZITHROMYCIN REDUCES OCULAR INFECTION DURING CONGENITAL TRANSMISSION OF TOXOPLASMOSIS IN THE Calomys Callosus MODEL

J Parasitol. 2009 Mar 2:1. [Epub ahead of print]

AZITHROMYCIN REDUCES OCULAR INFECTION DURING CONGENITAL TRANSMISSION OF TOXOPLASMOSIS IN THE Calomys Callosus MODEL

Lopes CD, Silva NM, Ferro EA, Sousa RA, Firmino ML, Bernardes ES, Roque-Barreira MC, Pena JD.

Toxoplasma gondii is a widely distributed obligatory intracellular parasite that causes severe disease to the fetus when transmitted during pregnancy. Drugs used to avoid congenital transmission have shown side effects and their efficacy is controversial. The most widely used drug for the treatment of acute toxoplasmosis during pregnancy is the association between pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, which has several side effects. In this work we tested the efficacy of azithromycin in reducing congenital transmission of Toxoplasma in the rodent Calomys callosus. Females of C. callosus were inoculated perorally with 20 cysts of ME49 strain of T. gondii on the day of fertilization and fetuses were collected from the 15th to the 19th day of gestation. Azithromycin (300mg/kg) or association with pyrimethamine (100 or 50 mg/Kg) and sulfadiazine (100 or 75mg/kg) and folinic acid (15mg/kg) (SPAf) or vehicle was administered orally in different days after infection. Brain and ocular tissues were removed and processed for immunohistochemistry using a polyclonal antibody against T. gondii, or processed for parasite DNA quantification. Toxoplasma gondii was detected in the brains of all females and fetuses' eyes when treated with SPAf. On the other hand, in females treated with azithromycin, there was a reduction of T. gondii in the brains of mothers and no parasites were detected in eyes of fetuses, indicating that azithromycin may represent an alternative treatment for toxoplasmosis during pregnancy.

PMID: 19254072 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]