Persistent toxoplasma bradyzoite cysts in the brain

Clin Neuropathol. 2009 May-Jun;28(3):210-2

Persistent toxoplasma bradyzoite cysts in the brain: incidental finding in an immunocompetent patient without evidence of a toxoplasmosis

Pusch L, Romeike B, Deckert M, Mawrin C.

Department of Neuropathology, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany.

We report on a 72-year-old patient in whom autopsy demonstrated incidentally intracerebral Toxoplasma gondii cysts, locally restricted in the occipital lobe, in association with only a few CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and a mild microglial activation. The patient was HIV-negative. Serologically, there was no evidence for an active inflammation (Toxoplasma gondii specific antibody IgG-positive, IgM-negative). This unusual observation may indicate that in patients with sepsis, who may yield to a state of immunodysbalance, a focal reactivation of parasites may ensue in the absence of conditions predisposing for opportunistic infection.

PMID: 19537140