About a third of the world’s population is chronically infected with
the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Data from the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest that about 11% of the U.S.
population aged 6 years and over is infected with the parasite, while
in other countries the infection rate has been shown to be up to 95%.
Researchers from 16 institutions across the U.S., Canada, England,
Scotland, and Australia have now analyzed genetic, transcriptomic, and
proteomic data from infected individuals, and from studies in cell
cultures, to link T. gondii infection with a number of brain disorders,
including epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and even some
cancers. “This study is a paradigm shifter,” stated co-author Dennis
Steindler, Ph.D., director of the Neuroscience and Aging Lab at the Jean
Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts
University. “We now have to insert infectious disease into the equation
of neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, and neural cancers. At the same
time, we have to translate aspects of this study into preventive
treatments that include everything from drugs to diet to lifestyle, in
order to delay disease onset and progression.”
Most people with a healthy immune system will develop no symptoms
from infection with T. gondii. Individuals with compromised immune
systems, however, are at risk from potentially far more serious
complications of the infection that can affect the eyes, brain, and
other organs. A pregnant mother who becomes infected can also pass the
parasite to her unborn child, with severe, potentially fatal
consequences.
Prior research has indicated that T. gondii infection in rodents and
in primates can cause subtle behavior changes, including loss of the
animals’ aversion to the smell of the urine of their natural predators.
Some epidemiological studies in humans have linked T. gondii infection
with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
diseases. However, this type of study can’t provide any information on
gene networks in the human brain that are altered by the parasite, and
which might provide insights into how to cure or prevent such diseases,
Dr. Steindler and colleagues write in their published study in
Scientific Reports, which is entitled “Toxoplasma Modulates Signature
Pathways of Human Epilepsy, Neurodegeneration & Cancer.”
http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/parasite-linked-with-alzheimers-and-parkinsons-diseases-epilepsy-and-cancer/81254919
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