TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal immune response during pregnancy and vertical transmission in human toxoplasmosis
AU - Gómez-Chávez, Fernando
AU - Cañedo-Solares, Irma
AU - Ortiz-Alegría, Luz Belinda
AU - Flores-García, Yevel
AU - Luna-Pastén, Héctor
AU - Figueroa-Damián, Ricardo
AU - Mora-González, Juan Carlos
AU - Correa, Dolores
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 Gómez-Chávez, Cañedo-Solares, Ortiz-Alegría, Flores-García, Luna-Pastén, Figueroa-Damián, Mora-González and Correa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic zoonosis distributed worldwide, caused by the ingestion of contaminated water/food with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. If a pregnant woman is infected with this parasite, it may be transmitted to the fetus and produce ocular, neurological, or systemic damage with variable severity. The strength and profile of mother's immune response have been suggested as important factors involved in vertical transmission rate and severity of clinical outcome in the congenitally infected fetus. The aim of this work was to evaluate a possible relation between the mother's immune response during pregnancy and congenital transmission to the fetus. We obtained peripheral blood from T. gondii infected pregnant woman and tested it for anti T. gondii (IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, and IgA) in serum. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated to analyze the in vitro effect of soluble T. gondii antigens on proliferation and production of cytokines. We found that IgG2-4 and IgA antibodies and lymphocytes proliferation, especially CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+ were positive in a higher proportion of cases in transmitter than in non-transmitter women. Furthermore, IgG2-3 and IgA anti-Toxoplasma antibody levels were higher in those mothers who transmitted the infection than in those who did not. Interestingly, a higher proportion of positive cases to IFN-γ and negatives to the immunoregulatory cytokine TGF-β, were related to T. gondii vertical transmission. Our descriptive results are consistent with the paradoxical previous observations in murine models of congenital toxoplasmosis, which suggest that an increased immune response that protects the mothers from a disseminated or severe disease, and should protect the fetus from infection, is positively related to parasite transmission.
AB - Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic zoonosis distributed worldwide, caused by the ingestion of contaminated water/food with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. If a pregnant woman is infected with this parasite, it may be transmitted to the fetus and produce ocular, neurological, or systemic damage with variable severity. The strength and profile of mother's immune response have been suggested as important factors involved in vertical transmission rate and severity of clinical outcome in the congenitally infected fetus. The aim of this work was to evaluate a possible relation between the mother's immune response during pregnancy and congenital transmission to the fetus. We obtained peripheral blood from T. gondii infected pregnant woman and tested it for anti T. gondii (IgG1, IgG2, IgG3, IgG4, and IgA) in serum. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated to analyze the in vitro effect of soluble T. gondii antigens on proliferation and production of cytokines. We found that IgG2-4 and IgA antibodies and lymphocytes proliferation, especially CD4+, CD8+, and CD19+ were positive in a higher proportion of cases in transmitter than in non-transmitter women. Furthermore, IgG2-3 and IgA anti-Toxoplasma antibody levels were higher in those mothers who transmitted the infection than in those who did not. Interestingly, a higher proportion of positive cases to IFN-γ and negatives to the immunoregulatory cytokine TGF-β, were related to T. gondii vertical transmission. Our descriptive results are consistent with the paradoxical previous observations in murine models of congenital toxoplasmosis, which suggest that an increased immune response that protects the mothers from a disseminated or severe disease, and should protect the fetus from infection, is positively related to parasite transmission.
KW - Cellular response
KW - Human congenital toxoplasmosis
KW - IFN-γ
KW - IgA
KW - IgG subclasses
KW - TGF-β1
KW - Toxoplasma gondii
KW - Vertical transmission
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062591291&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00285
DO - 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00285
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 30846989
AN - SCOPUS:85062591291
SN - 1664-3224
VL - 10
JO - Frontiers in Immunology
JF - Frontiers in Immunology
IS - FEB
M1 - 285
ER -