TY - JOUR
T1 - A Proinflammatory Immune Response Might Determine Toxoplasma gondii Vertical Transmission and Severity of Clinical Features in Congenitally Infected Newborns
AU - Gómez-Chávez, Fernando
AU - Cañedo-Solares, Irma
AU - Ortiz-Alegría, Luz Belinda
AU - Flores-García, Yevel
AU - Figueroa-Damián, Ricardo
AU - Luna-Pastén, Héctor
AU - Gómez-Toscano, Valeria
AU - López-Candiani, Carlos
AU - Arce-Estrada, G. Emmanuel
AU - Bonilla-Ríos, Christian A.
AU - Mora-González, Juan Carlos
AU - García-Ruiz, Ricardo
AU - Correa, Dolores
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2020 Gómez-Chávez, Cañedo-Solares, Ortiz-Alegría, Flores-García, Figueroa-Damián, Luna-Pastén, Gómez-Toscano, López-Candiani, Arce-Estrada, Bonilla-Ríos, Mora-González, García-Ruiz and Correa.
PY - 2020/3/13
Y1 - 2020/3/13
N2 - Toxoplasma gondii is the etiological agent of toxoplasmosis. Mother-to-child transmission of this parasite can occur during pregnancy. Newborns with congenital toxoplasmosis may develop central nervous system impairment, with severity ranging from subclinical manifestations to death. A proinflammatory/regulated specific immune profile is crucial in the defense against the parasite; nevertheless, its role in the infected pregnant women and the congenitally infected offspring has been poorly explored, and there is still no consensus about its relation to parasite vertical transmission or to severity and dissemination in the congenitally infected newborns. This work aimed to characterize these relations by means of principal component and principal factor analyses. For this purpose, we determined the specific production of the four immunoglobulin G antibody subclasses, cytokines, and lymphocyte proliferation in the T. gondii–infected pregnant women−10 who transmitted the infection to their offspring and seven who did not—as well as in 11 newborns congenitally infected and grouped according to disease severity (five mild and six moderate/severe) and dissemination (four local and seven disseminated). We found that the immune response of nontransmitter women differed from that of the transmitters, the latter having a stronger proinflammatory response, supporting a previous report. We also found that newborns who developed moderate/severe disease presented higher levels of lymphocyte proliferation, particularly of CD8+ and CD19+ cells, a high proportion of tumor necrosis factor α producers, and reduced expression of the immune modulator transforming growth factor β, as opposed to children who developed mild clinical complications. Our results suggest that a distinctive, not regulated, proinflammatory immune response might favor T. gondii vertical transmission and the development of severe clinical manifestations in congenitally infected newborns.
AB - Toxoplasma gondii is the etiological agent of toxoplasmosis. Mother-to-child transmission of this parasite can occur during pregnancy. Newborns with congenital toxoplasmosis may develop central nervous system impairment, with severity ranging from subclinical manifestations to death. A proinflammatory/regulated specific immune profile is crucial in the defense against the parasite; nevertheless, its role in the infected pregnant women and the congenitally infected offspring has been poorly explored, and there is still no consensus about its relation to parasite vertical transmission or to severity and dissemination in the congenitally infected newborns. This work aimed to characterize these relations by means of principal component and principal factor analyses. For this purpose, we determined the specific production of the four immunoglobulin G antibody subclasses, cytokines, and lymphocyte proliferation in the T. gondii–infected pregnant women−10 who transmitted the infection to their offspring and seven who did not—as well as in 11 newborns congenitally infected and grouped according to disease severity (five mild and six moderate/severe) and dissemination (four local and seven disseminated). We found that the immune response of nontransmitter women differed from that of the transmitters, the latter having a stronger proinflammatory response, supporting a previous report. We also found that newborns who developed moderate/severe disease presented higher levels of lymphocyte proliferation, particularly of CD8+ and CD19+ cells, a high proportion of tumor necrosis factor α producers, and reduced expression of the immune modulator transforming growth factor β, as opposed to children who developed mild clinical complications. Our results suggest that a distinctive, not regulated, proinflammatory immune response might favor T. gondii vertical transmission and the development of severe clinical manifestations in congenitally infected newborns.
KW - human congenital toxoplasmosis
KW - immune response
KW - TGF-β1
KW - Toxoplasma gondii
KW - vertical transmission
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85082659632&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00390
DO - 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00390
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 32231666
AN - SCOPUS:85082659632
SN - 1664-3224
VL - 11
JO - Frontiers in Immunology
JF - Frontiers in Immunology
M1 - 390
ER -