Introduction: The causative agent of toxoplasmosis is Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii); an intracellular obligate parasite causes abortion in humans and animals. The review aims to clarify the situation of the disease in humans and animals in different parts of the country so that data will be available for any future work regarding the control of the disease. Methodology: All humans and animal research studies published in the last 18 years between 2000 and 2018 in Saudi Arabia were targeted, including prevalence or seroprevalence of T. gondii infection or antibodies. The searched strategy included human or pregnant women or children as well as animals or any particular species. Results: The result showed that approximately one-third of the population in Saudi Arabia had IgG seropositivity, and 6.4% had IgM seropositivity. Moreover, the disease was widespread in almost all the regions except AL- Jouf, where no data published. The prevalence of the chronic infection was high in sheep in Riyadh 68%, and the prevalence of acute was found in Najran 19% in sheep, goats, and camels. Conclusions: The current article showed the importance of the disease in Saudi Arabia for both humans and animals. The educational programs should be established to impart people to avoid the infection by the parasite.

Background:Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an opportunistic parasite that causes serious diseases in humans, particularly immunocompromised individuals and pregnant women. To date, there are limited numbers of therapeutics for chronic toxoplasmosis which necessitate the discovery of effective and safe therapeutics. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the antitoxoplasmosis potential of ginger extract in mice with experimentally induced chronic toxoplasmosis. Results: Treatment with ginger extract significantly reduced cysts count in the brains of T. gondii-infected mice with a marked alleviation of edema and inflammation, and a reversal of neuronal injury. Moreover, ginger extract treatment reduced inflammation in liver and lungs and protected hepatocytes from infection-induced degeneration. Consistently, apoptosis was significantly mitigated in the brains of ginger extract-treated mice compared to infected untreated animals or spiramycin-treated animals. Methods: Four groups of Swiss albino mice (10 mice each) were used. The first group was not infected, whereas 3 groups were infected with Me49 T. gondii strains. One infected group remained untreated (infected untreated), whereas the other two infected groups were treated with either ginger extract (250 mg/kg) or spiramycin (positive control; 100 mg/kg), respectively. The therapeutic potential of ginger extract was evaluated by calculation of the parasite burden in infected animals, and examination of the infected tissues for reduced pathologic changes. Conclusions: Our results showed for the first time that ginger extract exhibited marked therapeutic effects in mice with chronic T. gondii infection which indicates that it can be used as a safe and effective treatment for chronic toxoplasmosis.

Background: Previous studies have reported involvement of Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) infections in the pathogenesis of some autoimmune diseases, such as polymyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune thyroiditis, and Crohn’s disease. However, data on the association between T. gondii infections and Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) are still controversial. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to investigate the pancreatic pathological changes in mouse models with acute and chronic toxoplasmosis and their association with T1DM. Materials and Methods: Three groups (10 mice each) of male Swiss Albino mice were used. One group of mice was left uninfected, whereas the second and third groups were infected with the acute virulent T. gondii RH strain and the chronic less virulent Me49 T. gondii strain, respectively. T. gondii-induced pancreatic pathological changes were evaluated by histopathological examination of pancreatic tissues. Moreover, the expression of insulin, levels of caspase-3, and the pancreatic infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells were evaluated using immunohistochemical staining. Results: Pancreatic tissues of T. gondii-infected animals showed significant pathological alterations and variable degrees of insulitis. Mice with acute toxoplasmosis exhibited marked enlargement and reduced numbers of islets of Langerhans. However, mice with chronic toxoplasmosis showed considerable reduction in size and number of islets of Langerhans. Moreover, insulin staining revealed significant reduction in β cell numbers, whereas caspase-3 staining showed induced apoptosis in islets of Langerhans of acute toxoplasmosis and chronic toxoplasmosis mice compared to uninfected mice. We detected infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells only in islets of Langerhans of mice with chronic toxoplasmosis. Conclusions: Acute and chronic toxoplasmosis mice displayed marked pancreatic pathological changes with reduced numbers of islets of Langerhans and insulin-producing-β cells. Since damage of β cells of islets of Langerhans is associated with the development of T1DM, our findings may support a link between T. gondii infections and the development of T1DM.

Blood samples from 254 childbearing age women from two villages (EL Nuba and EL Massoudia) were collected after seeking their consent; their written consent form was obtained. Detection of IgM for acute toxoplasmosis was done using two different enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) techniques. Prevalence of IgM was 18.9 and 20.3%; this was obtained by using ELISA IgM in Khartoum for all samples and ELISA IgM in Prague for selected samples, respectively. Diagnostic test was used to confirm acute toxoplasmosis. This consists of detecting IgA and IgE using ELISA technique. The result was the same in both techniques (6.8%). Confirmation tests were used for different purposes. IgG avidity was used to determine the exact time the selected samples had the infection. Six cases had recent infection; five cases had old infection and two cases were in between. Western blot (WB) was used to confirm the antibodies detected by screening and diagnostic tests. Western blot confirmed that 61.5% of samples had antibodies against P30 gene. Key words: Acute toxoplasmosis, ELISA- IgG avidity, Western blot, rural women, Sudan.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate parasite and intracellular protozoans infect all kinds of animals and humans. The aim of the present study was to determine whether there was any effect on complete blood count parameters in the blood of pregnant women. A case-control study was performed in pregnant women divided into two groups according to their age: group one (17-27 years) and group two (28-45 years). A total of 130 pregnant women participated in the present study. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. IgG and IgM ELISAs were performed to detect antibodies against T. gondii and differentiate between acute and chronic diseases. The results showed a significant change in monocytes in the younger infected group (p<0.05). In the older infected group, WBCs were significantly reduced (p<0.05), while neutrophils also decreased significantly in the infected group (p<0.05). Moreover, the association between decreased HCV and infection with T. gondii was significant (p<0.05). A relationship between the decrease in MCH and T. gondii infection was found in group two (p<0.05). An increase in MPV and infection with T. gondii in group two was found to be significantly associated (p<0.05). In the current study, anemia was associated with chronic T. gondii infection.