Cytokines in the Regulation of Innate and Adaptive Immunity to Toxoplasma gondii

Abstract

The obligate intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) was first identified in 1908 by Nicolle and Manceaux (1) in the rodent Ctenodactylus gundi and derived the genus name from the crescent shape of the organism (Greek: toxon = arc) observed in this host. In 1939, Wolf et al. (2) provided the first description of congenital disease caused by T. gondii and so identified this parasite as a pathogen of humans. It is now recognized that T. gondii is present in industrialized and developing countries and serology studies indicate that 10–70% of human populations, depending on geographic region and ethnicity, are infected. In addition, this is a common infection in animals and represents an important cause of abortion in farm animals. Thus, T. gondii represents one of the most common parasitic pathogens of man and is of considerable economic importance.