Immunomodulatory effects of chronic trichinellosis on Toxoplasma gondii RH virulent strain in experimental rats

ABSTRACT

Mixed parasitic infections could affect the host immunological responses and re-design the pathogenesis of each other. The impact of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis) co-infection on the immune response remains unclear. The objective of the present study was to investigate the possible effect of chronic trichinellosis on the immune response of rats infected with T. gondii virulent RH strain. Animals were divided into four groups: group I: non-infected negative control; group II: infected with T. spiralis; group III: infected with T. gondii and group IV: infected with T. spiralis then infected with T. gondii 35 days post T. spiralis infection (co-infected group). The interaction between T. spiralis and T. gondii was evaluated by histopathological examination of liver and brain tissues, immunohistochemical expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and β-catenin in the brain tissues, and CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells percentages, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha expression in the spleen tissues. Along with, splenic interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 mRNA expression levels were measured 15 days post-Toxoplasma infection. Our study revealed that prior infection with T. spiralis leads to attenuation of Th1 response against T. gondii, including iNOS, TNF-α, and CD8⁺ T-cell response with improvement of the histopathological changes in the tissues. In conclusion, in the co-infected rats, a balanced immune response has been developed with the end result, improvement of the histopathological changes in the liver and brain.

KEYWORDS:

• Trichinella spiralis
• virulent RH strain Toxoplasma gondii
• CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells
• β-catenin
• IL-10

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author contributions

Abeer E. Saad and Dalia S. Ashour designed the experiment. Abeer E. Saad and Dalia S. Ashour carried out the experiment. Eman Rashad performed histopathology analyses. All authors contributed to and reviewed the main manuscript text.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.