Department of Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kirikkale University, Kirikkale, Turkey.
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kirikkale University, Kirikkale, Turkey.
Exp Parasitol. 2022 Aug;239:108311. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2022.108311. Epub 2022 Jun 17.
Acute Toxoplasma gondii infections can influence the liver as well as other organs. Many cytokines and proteins play a role in the acute response against infection. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) is a cytokine that plays a key function in stimulating hepatocytes to produce acute phase proteins. In this study, we investigated TNF alpha levels associated with the levels of macroglobulin, haptoglobin, hemopexin, C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, serum amyloid alpha protein (SAA), and clusterin, which are acute phase proteins, in serum of mice with T. gondii infection. In the experiment, a total of 24 mice were used; 6 mice constituted the control group and 18 mice were infected with the RH strain. On the 2nd, 4th, and 6th days following the infection, 6 animals were euthanized, and their serums were collected. Compared to the control group, we observed a statistically significant decrease in albumin concentration in the group with T. gondii infection on the 6th day. Also, this group displayed a statistically significant, gradual increase in clusterin levels on the 2nd and 6th days, C-reactive protein levels on the 4th day, haptoglobin levels on the 2nd and 4th days, hemopexin levels on the 2nd day, serum amyloid A levels on the 2nd, 4th, and 6th days, and TNF-α levels on the 2nd, 4th, and 6th days (p < 0.05). TNF-α was strongly positively correlated with CRP, SAA, and clusterin, moderately positively correlated with hemopexin, and strongly negatively correlated with albumin. The increase in CRP, SAA, clusterin, and hemopexin levels on the 2nd day after infection, in parallel with the increase in TNF-α levels, indicates that these proteins can be considered as major acute phase proteins in acute T. gondii infection in mice. The data obtained here may be helpful for the diagnosis of T. gondii infection and for monitoring treatments.
急性弓形体病感染可影响肝脏和其他器官。许多细胞因子和蛋白质在急性感染反应中发挥作用。肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）是一种细胞因子，在刺激肝细胞产生急性期蛋白方面起着关键作用。在这项研究中，我们研究了与感染弓形体病的小鼠血清中巨球蛋白、触珠蛋白、血红素结合蛋白、C 反应蛋白（CRP）、白蛋白、血清淀粉样蛋白 A 蛋白（SAA）和簇蛋白等急性期蛋白相关的 TNF-α 水平。在实验中，共使用了 24 只小鼠；6 只构成对照组，18 只感染 RH 株。在感染后的第 2、4 和 6 天，处死 6 只动物并收集其血清。与对照组相比，我们观察到感染弓形体病的小鼠组在第 6 天白蛋白浓度显著降低。此外，该组在第 2 和第 6 天，第 4 天 CRP 水平，第 2 和第 4 天触珠蛋白水平，第 2 天血红素结合蛋白水平，第 2 天血清淀粉样蛋白 A 水平，第 2、4 和 6 天 TNF-α水平呈统计学显著逐渐增加（p<0.05）。TNF-α与 CRP、SAA 和簇蛋白呈强正相关，与血红素结合蛋白呈中度正相关，与白蛋白呈强负相关。感染后第 2 天 CRP、SAA、簇蛋白和血红素结合蛋白水平的升高与 TNF-α水平的升高平行，表明这些蛋白质可被认为是急性弓形体病感染的主要急性期蛋白。此处获得的数据可能有助于弓形体病感染的诊断和监测治疗。
