Toxoplasma gondii primarily invades the central nervous system, causing latent infections. Cysts persist in the host for life and there is currently no effective treatment. T. gondii infects human hosts through contaminated meat, invading the intestinal tissue and leading to changes in the number and composition of the gut microbiota. Since probiotic ingestion modulates intestinal microbiota changes, we hypothesized that intestinal microbiota dysbiosis caused by T. gondii infection would be restored following probiotic supplementation. To this end, we orally infected C57BL/6 mice with 10 T. gondii cysts and administered supplemental probiotics daily. We analyzed the levels of T. gondii B1 gene DNA, indicative of T. gondii infection, in brain tissue. We investigated alterations in the gut microbiota composition and functional pathways between the probiotic and non-probiotic treatment groups via next-generation sequencing analysis of each fecal sample. The infection level in the probiotic-treated group was significantly reduced after 4 weeks (p<0.05). Probiotic supplementation notably changed the gut microbiota after 2 weeks of infection, increasing the relative abundance of Intestinimonas massiliensis and Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticus. Probiotic supplements appear to modulate the gut microbiota, activating functional pathways involved in intestinal short-chain fatty acid production and strengthening the intestinal barrier, thereby impeding T. gondii infection and subsequent proliferation. Our findings provide valuable insights into T. gondii infection control and future study directions.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Lactobacillus vaginalis alleviates DSS induced colitis by regulating the gut microbiota and increasing the production of 3-indoleacrylic acid Zhuoya Wang, Tian Liu, Li Liu, Jian Xie, Furui Tang, Yimin Pi, Yuchun Zhong, Zhidong He, Wenming Zhang, Cihua Zheng Pharmacological Research.2025; 213: 107663. CrossRef
Gut microbiota-derived butyrate alleviates the impairment of mice intestinal integrity caused by Toxoplasma gondii infection Shuni Liu, Yutao Zheng, Bingqian Cui, Jiayi Yang, Bohui Yuan, Yuhan Cao, Zimu Zhao, Zhuo Sun, Qingling Wang, Xiaoying Yang, Wei Pan, Cheng He Life Sciences.2025; 374: 123709. CrossRef
Analysis of Gut Microbiota and Assessment of Environmental Health in Western Anatolian Vole (Microtus lydius Blackler, 1916) Tuba Yağcı, Gözde Ayseçkin Journal of Anatolian Environmental and Animal Sciences.2025; 10(4): 471. CrossRef
Microbiome of Dipteran vectors associated with integron and antibiotic resistance genes in South Korea Xavier Chavarria, Arwa Shatta, Hyun Seo Park, Du-Yeol Choi, Dongjun Kang, Singeun Oh, Dawon Lee, Myungjun Kim, Jun Ho Choi, Yoon Hee Cho, Myung-hee Yi, Ju Yeong Kim Acta Tropica.2025; 271: 107858. CrossRef
Urban environmental drivers of eukaryotic microbiota and parasite prevalence in domestic pigeon faeces: a metabarcoding-based public health risk assessment in Seoul, South Korea Singeun Oh, Jun Ho Choi, Xavier Chavarria, Myungjun Kim, Dongjun Kang, Myung-hee Yi, Yoon Hee Cho, In-Yong Lee, Tai-Soon Yong, Seongjun Choe, Ju Yeong Kim Journal of The Royal Society Interface.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
This study aimed to elucidate the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed with toxoplasmosis in Korea. We collected and analyzed the specific research data of 5,917 patients from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA; 2007–2020) and 533 electronic medical records (EMRs; 2003–2021) of Korean patients. The HIRA data showed that toxoplasmosis is an endemic disease that occurs constantly in Korea, with a large proportion of patients complaining of ocular symptoms. Of the 533 patients for whom EMR data were available, 54.6% were diagnosed with toxoplasmosis; ocular toxoplasmosis (35.7%), congenital toxoplasmosis (4.7%), cerebral toxoplasmosis (4.1%), pulmonary toxoplasmosis (0.4%), and toxoplasma hepatitis (0.6%), in order of frequency. In ocular cases, 54.4% of the patients had diverse ocular pathologies. Toxoplasmosis in Korea is characterized by a high frequency of ocular symptoms, most patients are adults, and 51.8% of patients with seropositivity were positive for IgG, suggesting prior infection. This study highlights that patients with ocular symptoms are included in the major diagnosis group for acquired toxoplasmosis in Korea.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Detection of intestinal parasites in leopard cat fecal samples using shotgun metagenomics Jun Ho Choi, Singeun Oh, Myung-hee Yi, Dongjun Kang, Du-Yeol Choi, Xavier Chavarria, Arwa Shatta, Yoon Hee Cho, Seongjun Choe, Seung-Hun Lee, Ju Yeong Kim Parasites, Hosts and Diseases.2025; 63(4): 349. CrossRef
The dense granule protein of Toxoplasma gondii, inhibitor of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (IST) is an inhibitor of signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) transcriptional activity that binds to STAT1 and regulates the expression of inflammatory molecules in host cells. A sterile inflammatory liver injury in pathological acute liver failures occurs when excessive innate immune function, such as the massive release of IFN-γ and TNF-α, is activated without infection. In relation to inflammatory liver injury, we hypothesized that Toxoplasma gondii inhibitor of STAT1 transcription (TgIST) can inhibit the inflammatory response induced by activating the STAT1/IRF-1 mechanism in liver inflammation. This study used IFN-γ and TNF-α as inflammatory inducers at the cellular level of murine hepatocytes (Hepa-1c1c7) to determine whether TgIST inhibits the STAT1/IRF-1 axis. In stable cells transfected with TgIST, STAT1 expression decreased with a decrease in interferon regulatory factor (IRF)-1 levels. Furthermore, STAT1 inhibition of TgIST resulted in lower levels of NF-κB and COX2, as well as significantly lower levels of class II transactivator (CIITA), iNOS, and chemokines (CLXCL9/10/11). TgIST also significantly reduced the expression of hepatocyte proapoptotic markers (Caspase3/8/9, P53, and BAX), which are linked to sterile inflammatory liver injury. TgIST also reduced the expression of adhesion (ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) and infiltration markers of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) induced by hepatocyte and tissue damage. TgIST restored the cell apoptosis induced by IFN-γ/TNF-α stimulation. These results suggest that TgIST can inhibit STAT1-mediated inflammatory and apoptotic responses in hepatocytes stimulated with proinflammatory cytokines.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Toxoplasma GRA16 attenuates Tau hyperphosphorylation and enhances autophagy in thrombin-treated HT-22 hippocampal neuronal cells Seung-Hwan Seo, Do-Won Ham, Ji-Eun Lee, Eun-Hee Shin Scientific Reports.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Toxoplasma gondii GRA16 Suppresses Aerobic Glycolysis by Downregulating c-Myc and TERT Expressions in Colorectal Cancer Cells Ji-Eun Lee, Seung-Hwan Seo, Do-Won Ham, Eun-Hee Shin Biomolecules & Therapeutics.2025; 33(4): 621. CrossRef
First
Prev
