The evaluation of interleukin-8 chemokine in chronic and acute Toxoplasma gondii infection

AIM: We investigated whether the level of IL8 was different in patients with chronic and acute Toxoplasma gondii infection during the pregnancy compared with control group. BACKGROUND: It is well established that T.gondii infection induces a strong cell-mediated immune response. PATIENTS AND METHODS: ELISA was used to determine the level of IL8 in sera of 568 pregnant women. Patients were divided into three groups according to a T.gondii serology. The first group included 202 women with positive IgG titres, the second group was 66 women with IgM and negative IgG T.gondii serology; and the third group comprised the sera of 300 healthy pregnant women with negative T.gondii serology and served as controls. RESULTS: The level of IL8 in group I was within normal range similar to control group. However, the level of IL8 was increased in those pregnant patients with positive IgM T.gondii serology. CONCLUSION: The serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL8 seem to be increased in patients with serological evidence of acute T.gondii infection.