Toxoplasma gondii oocysts

Cornelissen, B. WJ., G. B, Vander, T. Katsuhisa, T. Peter, H. J. Wisselink (2014) An experimental Toxoplasma gondii dose response challenge model to study therapeutic or vaccine efficacy in cats. PLoS One, 9(9).
Toxoplasma gondii oocysts are the main component of infection for humans. Vaccinating the definite host of this parasite
, cats, can reduce the contamination of oocysts in the environment. Infected cats were taken into consideration to find a suitable treatment. It was proven that by treating cats with vaccinations or therapeutic drug application, less humans will get infected. I will use this article to not only talk more about the definite host of this parasite but also how the treatment and control of this host can reduce the infection of humans and other intermediate hosts. I will also explain the process of how this vaccination for cats works, giving us an idea of how the parasite infects the brain of the host. Most importantly, informing the audience about how the environment can be contaminated by these oocysts and how to avoid those environments its essential to add to my paper. I will use this as evidence on how to treat your cat if you own one and/or to stay away from areas that have a high risk factor of becoming infected.

Cope, J. R., R. C. Ratard, V. R. Hill, T. Sokol, J. J. Causey, J. S. Yoder, G. Mirani, B. Mull, K. A. Mukerjee, J. Narayanan (2015) The first association of a primary amebic meningoencephalitis death with culturable Naegleria fowleri in tap water from a US treated public drinking water system. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 60(8): E36-E42.
Naegleria fowleri is a parasite mainly found in warm, freshwater environments. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis is a fatal condition that occurs when this parasite enters the nose of the host and travels to the brain via the olfactory nerve. In August 2013, a 4-year-old child died due to this dangerous amoeba but his only exposure to contaminated water was tap water. Water samples were collected to test for N. fowleri  and it came out positive, showing the first case where a person is infected by drinking tap water. I will use this article to inform the audience of an unusual way that a person got infected with a parasite that usually enters through the nose. By drinking water, this parasite will not reach the brain but it appears that it was able to enter the nasal cavity through another pathway. I will also use this to give more background information of where this parasite is mostly found and how you can become infected. Finally, now that we know that by drinking tap water we might become infected, I will raise awareness to having disinfection throughout drinking water distribution systems.

Mahmoud, M. E., F. Ihara, R. N. Fereig, M. Nishimura, Y. Nishikawa (2016) Induction of depression-related behaviors by reactivation of chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection in mice. Behavioural brain research. 209: 125-133.
Toxoplasma gondii has been known to be relevant to many psychiatric disorders. The mechanism that it uses to affect the host brain and its correlation to depression is not well understood. By treating mice with this parasite and observing the reaction of the production of interferon gamma and conversion of tryptophan to kynurenine, it showed that the mice developed a depressive like behavior. Thus proving that infection of this parasite may have a correlation with depression cases. I will use this article to give another example on how this parasite causes a change in behavior of their host that might even lead to depression. This article provides the mechanisms that the parasite uses to control the brain of the parasite. I will also include the results that show new understanding and findings on the relationship between depression and Toxoplasma gondii. Finally, I will explain how the enhanced catabolism of serotonin affects the mice in this experiment.

Moussa, M., J. F. Jonckheere, J. Guerlotte, V. Richard, A. Bastaraud (2013) Survey of Naegleria fowleri in geothermal recreational water of Guadeloupe. PLoS One, 8(1).
The first fatal case of Naegleria fowleri found in French West Indies was in 2008, when a child swam in geothermal water. The waters were then tested for this parasite to find more knowledge about it. Water samples were taken from many parts of the aquatic environment and tested in the laboratory where it showed that on 22 of these parasites were found per liter. The tests also showed that the parasite belonged to a common Euro-American genotype. I will use this article to give another example of a case found of this parasite. I will also add the testing techniques used to discover the parasite in the water and how they considered comparing it to other aquatic environment where the parasite might not survive. This article also does a nice job by explaining the importance of investigating aquatic environments where the parasite might be found in order to prevent more fatal cases. Lastly, I will include ways of avoiding recreating thermal bath that might be a high area of infection.

Sciutto, E., G. Rosas, M. Hernandez, J. Morales, C. Cruz-Revilla (2007) Improvement of the synthetic tri-peptide vaccine against porcine Taenia solium cysticercosis in search of a more effective, inexpensive and manageable vaccine.
Taenia solium is a parasite mainly found in raw pork meat. Vaccinating their intermediate host will reduce the number of cysticerci. By reducing the number of infection state of this parasite will reduce the amount of humans being infected. One subunit vaccine S3Pvac has been proved to work against this acquired disease. The vaccine is still being tested to increase effectiveness and reduce the cost. I will use this article to provide the audience with a way of preventing infection with this parasite. I will explain how the parasite is transmitted from pigs to humans. Then I will add how vaccinating pigs will reduce the amount of infections. Finally, I will provide more information on how to obtain this vaccination and the prices as well as how it has been improving in the past years.

Sudgen, K., T. E. Moffitt, L. Pinto, R. Poulton, B. S. Williams, A. Caspi (2016) Is Toxoplasma gondii infection related to brain and behavior impairments in humans? Evidence from a population-representative birth control. PLoS One, 11(2).
Toxoplasma gondii is known for manipulation the host behavior. Evidence has shown that the intermediate host behavior is affected by the parasite in order for it to be attacked by the definite host and thus the parasite could finish its life cycle. The usual intermediate hosts of this parasite are rodents. The rodents’ actions change by become friendlier with the feline family that in return finds the prey easier. This article provides great information on the life cycle of this parasite. I will use this to give more information on the intermediate and definite host and how the parasite changes the behavior of the intermediate host in order to get to the final host. I will also add how it affects the brain by explaining its mechanism of infection. Finally, I will add how owning a cat that has this parasite infects humans.
Verastegui, M. R (2015) Novel rat model for neurocysticercosis using Taenia solium. The American journal of pathology. 185: 2259-2268.
Taenia solium infects the CNS, which might lead to epilepsy. Research on mice infected with this parasite shows similar physiologically behavior as a mice that was treated to have an epilepsy. The studies revealed that a cyst, which shows BBB disruption, surrounds the IgG extravasation in the tissue. Thickening of blood vessel around the cyst caused inflammation that is reported to have an effect in the human brain tissue. This article provides a lot of information on the life cycle of the parasite. The experiment also shows the mechanism of the parasite affecting the brain and how it may cause epilepsy. I will use the findings to add more information about the effect of the parasite. Finally, I will provide an overview of the parasite and the risks it has to humans.


Watts, N. S., M. Pajuelo, T. Clark, M. C. Loader, M. R. Verastegui ( 2014) Taenia solium infection in Peru: a collaboration between Peace Corps volunteers and researchers in a community based study. PLoS One, 9(12).
Taenia solium cysts infect the central nervous system leading to seizures and epilepsy. This parasite was found to infect a lot of people in Peru but there is not enough information or data that proves the endemic infection. Peace Corps volunteers that lived in the community were used to estimate the prevalence of the parasite in the community. This facilitated to increase the knowledge of what was occurring in the country and how to help prevent more cases. I will use this article to provide another example of where the parasite is endemic. Also showing that many places have scarce information and medical help which increases the factors of infection throughout the community. Showing this example might increase awareness to the importance of research around the world in order to help other countries. Finally, I will provide way of how to increase our knowledge on how to help other countries that do not have the privilege of having researchers that can help stop and endemic infection.