Use of prednisolone to aid propagation of Toxoplasma gondii in mice.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the usefulness of prednisolone in increasing the number of Toxoplasma (T.) gondii tachyzoites and bradyzoites in mice.


METHODS
The mice were water-fasted prior to being immunosuppressed with oral inoculation of prednisolone. Tachyzoites of 7T gondii RH strain were inoculated into mice and the number of the parasites in the intraperitoneal fluids was then determined at 96 hs post-infection. In addition, tachyzoites of T. gondii ME49 strains were orally introduced into mice and the number of brain cysts formed was observed by microscopic observation at 45 days post-infection.


RESULTS
T. gondii propagation was found to be significantly improved by introduction of the prednisolone (p = 0.0004); and the number of parasite showed positive correlation with the increment in dosage of prednisolone (r = 0.9051).


CONCLUSIONS
The use of prednisolone greatly improved the number of parasite formed in mice: both tachyzoite and cyst forms.
Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), University Sains Malaysia, USM, Penang, Malaysia.
V R
VR
Puvanesuaran
K
K
Nowroji
S
S
Sreenivasan
R
R
Noordin
V
V
Balakrishnan
D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000187:drug effects*
D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D011239:Prednisolone