Article Source: UChicago Medicine / 2014
Nearly one-third of the 7.25 billion people on earth, including an estimated 60 million people in the United States, are chronically infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. A working immune system can keep the parasite in check, so only a minority of those infected has significant symptoms. But when an unsuspecting woman gets infected during pregnancy and passes the parasite on to her unborn child, the consequences can be profound.
They include devastating damage to the brain, nervous system and eyes. Now there is growing evidence that some people, maybe a lot of people, have subtler symptoms triggered by the infection. Perhaps the immune response, while keeping the parasites in check, causes collateral damage elsewhere. Or maybe the parasites, which produce the neurotransmitter dopamine and interact with the cells it infects, modifies behavior of its host. We asked a leading authority on Toxoplasma gondii and toxoplasmosis, Rima McLeod, MD, professor of ophthalmology & visual science and pediatrics and medical director of the toxoplasmosis center at the University of Chicago, a big question: What do we think happens when billions of people go through life with a parasitic brain infection?
For starters, what is Toxoplasma gondii?
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