Habib Samar, Hamza Eman, El-Gamal Randa, Nosser Nessma A, Aboukamar Wafaa A, Abdelsalam Sherehan, Sobh Ali, Elegezy Mohamed, Elbayoumy Mohamed, Eldars Waleed, Elmasry Khaled, Elnagdy Marwa H
Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, EGY.
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, EGY.
Cureus. 2023 Sep 26;15(9):e45989. doi: 10.7759/cureus.45989. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Background Parasites are well-known immune-modulators. They inhibit some aspects of the immune system to ensure persistence inside the host for a long time; meanwhile, they stimulate other immune aspects to assure the survival of the host. Wide variations in the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among developed and developing countries were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parasitic infections, including (), were claimed to contribute to such variations. Methods To explore a possible relationship between latent toxoplasmosis and COVID-19 severity, our study included 44 blood samples from moderate/severe COVID-19 patients, who were admitted to Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt, during the pandemic. Patients' sera were screened for IgG antibodies using ELISA (Roche Diagnostics, Indianapolis, USA), and the gene expression of important immune markers (iNOS, arginase-1, IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-10, and TGF-β) was checked using real-time quantitative PCR. Clinical and laboratory data were obtained from the patients' medical records. Results IgG antibodies were detected in 33 (75%) of patients. None of the studied clinical or laboratory parameters showed any significant changes in relation to toxoplasmosis seroprevalence. Further classification of the patients according to COVID-19 severity and seroprevalence did not reveal any changes related to toxoplasmosis as well. Conclusion Our study indicates that latent toxoplasmosis has no effect on the severity of COVID-19.
背景 寄生虫是众所周知的免疫调节剂。它们抑制免疫系统的某些方面以确保在宿主体内长期存活；与此同时，它们刺激免疫系统的其他方面以保证宿主的生存。在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间，有报道称发达国家和发展中国家的COVID-19严重程度存在很大差异。包括（）在内的寄生虫感染被认为是造成这种差异的原因之一。方法 为了探究潜伏性弓形虫病与COVID-19严重程度之间的可能关系，我们的研究纳入了44份来自COVID-19中/重度患者的血液样本，这些患者在大流行期间被收治于埃及曼苏拉大学医院。使用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA，美国印第安纳波利斯罗氏诊断公司）检测患者血清中的弓形虫IgG抗体，并使用实时定量聚合酶链反应检测重要免疫标志物（诱导型一氧化氮合酶、精氨酸酶-1、干扰素-γ、肿瘤坏死因子-α、白细胞介素-6、白细胞介素-10和转化生长因子-β）的基因表达。从患者的病历中获取临床和实验室数据。结果 在33名（75%）患者中检测到弓形虫IgG抗体。所研究的临床或实验室参数均未显示出与弓形虫病血清阳性率相关的任何显著变化。根据COVID-19严重程度和弓形虫血清阳性率对患者进行进一步分类，也未发现与弓形虫病相关的任何变化。结论 我们的研究表明，潜伏性弓形虫病对COVID-19的严重程度没有影响。
