Hunter C A, Remington J S
Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, CA 94301.
J Infect Dis. 1994 Nov;170(5):1057-67. doi: 10.1093/infdis/170.5.1057.
The incidence of toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) has increased with the increasing numbers of patients with immunodeficiencies, in whom reactivation of latent Toxoplasma infection may occur. This highlights the important role of the immune response in maintaining infection with Toxoplasma gondii in a latent form. Because the brain is the most commonly affected site of latent infection and because it is anatomically unique in regard to the immune system, understanding the systemic immune response to infection within the brain is important. Murine models have proven useful for the study of the immune response to T. gondii and identified the importance of cytokines and NK and T cells in the regulation of protective immunity to T. gondii. Further studies on the development of TE have indicated the possible importance of the interactions of glial cells, such as microglia and astrocytes, with infiltrating T cells to mediate immunity to T. gondii within the brain.
随着免疫缺陷患者数量的增加，弓形虫性脑炎（TE）的发病率也在上升，这些患者可能会发生潜伏性弓形虫感染的重新激活。这凸显了免疫反应在维持弓形虫潜伏感染中的重要作用。由于大脑是潜伏感染最常累及的部位，且在免疫系统方面具有解剖学上的独特性，因此了解对脑内感染的全身免疫反应很重要。小鼠模型已被证明对研究弓形虫免疫反应有用，并确定了细胞因子、自然杀伤细胞和T细胞在调节对弓形虫的保护性免疫中的重要性。对TE发展的进一步研究表明，胶质细胞（如小胶质细胞和星形胶质细胞）与浸润性T细胞相互作用以介导脑内对弓形虫免疫的可能重要性。
