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Hassanein F, Fadel HH, Shehata AI, Hamdy NA, Masoud IM. In silico study to explore the mechanism of Toxoplasma-induced inflammation and target therapy based on sero and salivary Toxoplasma. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13600. [PMID: 38866852 PMCID: PMC11169245 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63735-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
We aimed to assess salivary and seroprevalence of Toxoplasma immunoglobulins in risky populations and evaluate drug docking targeting TgERP. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Alexandria University hospitals' outpatient clinics. 192 participants were enrolled from September 2022 to November 2023. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM were determined in serum and saliva by ELISA. An in-Silico study examined TgERP's protein-protein interactions (PPIs) with pro-inflammatory cytokine receptors, anti-inflammatory cytokine, cell cycle progression regulatory proteins, a proliferation marker, and nuclear envelope integrity-related protein Lamin B1. Our findings revealed that anti-T. gondii IgG were detected in serum (66.1%) and saliva (54.7%), with 2.1% of both samples were positive for IgM. Salivary IgG had 75.59% sensitivity, 86.15% specificity, 91.40% PPV, 64.40% NPP, 79.17% accuracy and fair agreement with serum IgG. On the other hand, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy in detecting salivary IgM were 75.0%, 99.47%, 75.0%, 99.47%, and 98.96%. AUC 0.859 indicates good discriminatory power. Examined synthetic drugs and natural products can target specific amino acids residues of TgERP that lie at the same binding interface with LB1 and Ki67, subsequently, hindering their interaction. Hence, salivary samples can be a promising diagnostic approach. The studied drugs can counteract the pro-inflammatory action of TgERP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faika Hassanein
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Dentistry, Pharos University in Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt.
| | - Hewida H Fadel
- Department of Medical Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences Technology, Pharos University in Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Amany I Shehata
- Department of Tropical Health, High Institute of Public Health, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Noha Alaa Hamdy
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy & Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Inas M Masoud
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharos University in Alexandria, Alexandria, Egypt
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2
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Skvarč M. Diagnostic accuracy of adjusted low IgG avidity index to predict acute Toxoplasma gondii infection in the first trimester of pregnancy. Folia Parasitol (Praha) 2022; 69. [DOI: 10.14411/fp.2022.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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3
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Malipiero G, Moratto A, Infantino M, D'Agaro P, Piscianz E, Manfredi M, Grossi V, Benvenuti E, Bulgaresi M, Benucci M, Villalta D. Assessment of humoral and cellular immunity induced by the BNT162b2 SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in healthcare workers, elderly people, and immunosuppressed patients with autoimmune disease. Immunol Res 2021; 69:576-583. [PMID: 34417958 PMCID: PMC8379062 DOI: 10.1007/s12026-021-09226-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The development of vaccines to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection has mainly relied on the induction of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) to the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, but there is growing evidence that T cell immune response can contribute to protection as well. In this study, an anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody assay and an INFγ-release assay (IGRA) were used to detect humoral and cellular responses to the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 vaccine in three separate cohorts of COVID-19-naïve patients: 108 healthcare workers (HCWs), 15 elderly people, and 5 autoimmune patients treated with immunosuppressive agents. After the second dose of vaccine, the mean values of anti-RBD antibodies (Abs) and INFγ were 123.33 U/mL (range 27.55–464) and 1513 mIU/mL (range 145–2500) in HCWs and 210.7 U/mL (range 3–500) and 1167 mIU/mL (range 83–2500) in elderly people. No correlations between age and immune status were observed. On the contrary, a weak but significant positive correlation was found between INFγ and anti-RBD Abs values (rho = 0.354, p = 0.003). As to the autoimmune cohort, anti-RBD Abs were not detected in the two patients with absent peripheral CD19+B cells, despite high INFγ levels being observed in all 5 patients after vaccination. Even though the clinical relevance of T cell response has not yet been established as a correlate of vaccine-induced protection, IGRA testing has showed optimal sensitivity and specificity to define vaccine responders, even in patients lacking a cognate antibody response to the vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giacomo Malipiero
- Immunology and Allergy Unit, Ospedale S-Maria degli Angeli, Pordenone, Italy
| | - Anna Moratto
- Immunology and Allergy Unit, Ospedale S-Maria degli Angeli, Pordenone, Italy
| | - Maria Infantino
- Immunology and Allergy Laboratory Unit, San Giovanni Di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Pierlanfranco D'Agaro
- Laboratory for Hygiene and Public Health, University Hospital of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Elisa Piscianz
- Laboratory for Hygiene and Public Health, University Hospital of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Mariangela Manfredi
- Immunology and Allergy Laboratory Unit, San Giovanni Di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Valentina Grossi
- Immunology and Allergy Laboratory Unit, San Giovanni Di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Enrico Benvenuti
- Geriatric Unit Firenze-Empoli, Santa Maria Annunziata Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Matteo Bulgaresi
- Geriatric Unit Firenze-Empoli, Santa Maria Annunziata Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Maurizio Benucci
- Rheumatology Unit, San Giovanni Di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy
| | - Danilo Villalta
- Immunology and Allergy Unit, Ospedale S-Maria degli Angeli, Pordenone, Italy.
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4
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Putative biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis. Sci Rep 2020; 10:16757. [PMID: 33028847 PMCID: PMC7541609 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-73265-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Accepted: 09/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In the present study we have evaluated the performance of several immunological biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of congenital toxoplasmosis. Our results showed that ex vivo serum levels of CXCL9, and the frequencies of circulating CD4+CD25+ T-cells and T. gondii-specific IFN-γ+CD4+ T-cells measured 30–45 days after birth presented high accuracy to distinguish T. gondii-infected infants from healthy age-matched controls (Global Accuracy/AUC = 0.9; 0.9 and 0.8, respectively). Of note was the enhanced performance (Accuracy = 96%) achieved by using a combined stepwise analysis of CD4+CD25+ T-cells and CXCL9. In addition, high global accuracy (AUC = 0.9) with elevated sensitivity (Se = 98%) was also reached by using the total frequency of in vitro IFN-γ-producing T. gondii-specific T-cells (∑ IFN-γ+ CD4+ & CD8+) as a biomarker of congenital toxoplasmosis. Furthermore, the analysis of in vitro T. gondii-specific IL5+CD4+ T-cells and IFN-γ+NK-cells displayed a high accuracy for early prognosis of ocular lesion in infant with congenital toxoplasmosis (Global Accuracy/AUC = 0.8 and 0.9, respectively). Together, these findings support the relevance of employing the elements of the cell-mediated immune response as biomarkers with potential to endorse early diagnosis and prognosis of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis to contribute for a precise clinical management and effective therapeutic intervention.
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Rudzinski M, Pardini L, Bernstein M, Moré G, Khoury M, Duarte SC, Argüelles C, Reina S, Oubiña JR. Interferon-γ and IL-10 Release Assay for Patients with Ocular Toxoplasmosis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2020; 103:2239-2243. [PMID: 32901605 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with ocular toxoplasmosis were challenged with total antigens from Toxoplasma gondii lysate (TATL) in a cytokine release assay (CRA), run during the inactive period of the disease. Increased interferon gamma (IFN-γ) levels were detected after PBMC stimulation with either ME49 reference strain (P = 0.0015) or local TgCkAr-11-9 isolate (P = 0.0012), as compared with those recorded under basal conditions. TATL from TgCkAr11-9 isolate induced a higher release of IFN-γ than ME49 strain in CRA from all tested patients (P = 0.02). The median value of IFN-γ release on TgCkAr-11-9 stimulation (26.03 pg/mL) allowed the classification of patients into high- or low-/non-IFN-γ releasers. Clinical correlations were established with both groups. The results obtained in this study suggest the need to include local strains when performing CRA with TATL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo Rudzinski
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Investigación, Universidad Católica de las Misiones (UCAMI), Posadas, Argentina.,Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina.,Cátedra de Oftalmología, Universidad Católica de las Misiones (UCAMI), Posadas, Argentina
| | - Lais Pardini
- Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Mariana Bernstein
- Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Gastón Moré
- Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina
| | - Marina Khoury
- Dirección de Docencia e Investigación, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas "Alfredo Lanari", Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Silvana Carolina Duarte
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Investigación, Universidad Católica de las Misiones (UCAMI), Posadas, Argentina
| | - Carina Argüelles
- Cátedra de Biología Molecular, Universidad Católica de las Misiones (UCAMI), Posadas, Argentina
| | - Silvia Reina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina.,Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Centro de Investigación, Universidad Católica de las Misiones (UCAMI), Posadas, Argentina
| | - José Raúl Oubiña
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica, Universidad de Buenos Aires - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Simon L, Fillaux J, Guigon A, Lavergne RA, Villard O, Villena I, Marty P, Pomares C. Serological diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii: analysis of false-positive IgG results and implications. Parasite 2020; 27:7. [PMID: 32031519 PMCID: PMC7006501 DOI: 10.1051/parasite/2020006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Primary infection by Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women can result in serious outcomes for the foetus. A false-positive IgG result during pregnancy can lead to a misdiagnosis of past infection and to stopping preventive measures. We collected 189 sera with positive Architect® Toxo IgG assay (Abbott Laboratories) and negative IgG results with at least two other serological tests, in order to find an explanation for the suspected false-positive IgG results. We used the recomLine Toxoplasma IgG® immunoblot (Mikrogen Diagnostik) to search for specific antigenic reactivities of the sera, and the LDBio Toxo II IgG® immunoblot (LDBio Diagnostics) as a confirmatory test. RESULTS The bands GRA8 and/or GRA7 were positive for 148 samples (78.3%). GRA8 was the most frequent band, appearing in 133 patterns (70.4%), whereas GRA7 was present for 49 samples (25.9%). Of the 81 samples tested with LDBio®, 23 (28.4%) turned out to be positive. Of the 58 negative LDBio® tests (71.6%) (real false-positive Architect® IgG), 23 samples (39.6%) did not show either a GRA8 or p30 band by recomLine®. Their false positivity with Architect® remains unexplained since Abbott uses these two recombinant antigens for their assay. CONCLUSIONS The Architect® IgG false positivity for T. gondii seems to be due to reactivity against GRA8 for the majority of the sera and GRA7 to a lesser extent. The hypothesis of past contact with parasites genetically close to T. gondii such as Hammondia hammondi or Neospora caninum seems promising and should be assessed further.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loïc Simon
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Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHU de Nice, Université Côte d’Azur 06202 Nice France
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Inserm U1065, C3M 06204 Nice France
| | - Judith Fillaux
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Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHU de Toulouse 31300 Toulouse France
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PharmaDev, IRD UMR 152, Université de Toulouse 31062 Toulouse France
| | - Aurélie Guigon
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Service de Microbiologie, Hôpital La Source, CHR d’Orléans 45100 Orléans France
| | - Rose-Anne Lavergne
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Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHU de Nantes 44093 Nantes France
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Université de Nantes, Nantes Atlantique Universités, EA1155-IICiMed, Institut de Recherche en Santé 2 44200 Nantes France
| | - Odile Villard
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Institut de Parasitologie et de Pathologie Tropicale, EA 7292, Fédération de Médecine Translationnelle, Université de Strasbourg 67000 Strasbourg France
| | - Isabelle Villena
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EA7510, ESCAPE, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne, SFR Cap Santé FED 4231 51096 Reims France
| | - Pierre Marty
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Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHU de Nice, Université Côte d’Azur 06202 Nice France
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Inserm U1065, C3M 06204 Nice France
| | - Christelle Pomares
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Service de Parasitologie-Mycologie, CHU de Nice, Université Côte d’Azur 06202 Nice France
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Inserm U1065, C3M 06204 Nice France
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Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated that screening and treatment for toxoplasmosis during gestation result in a decrease of vertical transmission and clinical sequelae. Early treatment was associated with improved outcomes. Thus, laboratory methods should aim for early identification of infants with congenital toxoplasmosis (CT). Diagnostic approaches should include, at least, detection of Toxoplasma IgG, IgM, and IgA and a comprehensive review of maternal history, including the gestational age at which the mother was infected and treatment. Here, we review laboratory methods for the diagnosis of CT, with emphasis on serological tools. A diagnostic algorithm that takes into account maternal history is presented.
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