title: Conjugated Linoleic Acid Stimulates Apoptosis in RH and Tehran Strains of Toxoplasma gondii, in Vitro.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on apoptosis of tachyzoites of T. gondii, RH strain (type I) and the cyst-forming Tehran strain (type II) in vitro.
  
  
  METHODS
  Toxoplasma strains were injected into the peritoneal cavity of BALB/c mice. The Tehran strain forms cysts in the brain of mice. Bradyzoites within the cysts are reactivated to proliferative tachyzoites, by dexamethasone. Tachyzoites were aspirated from the peritoneum of infected mice, and the percentage of viable parasites was estimated with trypan blue staining. Tachyzoites were inoculated into HeLa cells cultivated in DMEM medium. Different concentrations of CLA were evaluated on T. gondii in HeLa cells by the tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay. Differentiation between apoptosis and cell death was determined by flow cytometry using Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) double staining. The statistical analysis performed by GraphPad Prism version 6.00.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CLA induces apoptosis in virulent (RH) and avirulent (Tehran) strains of T. gondii. The results of MTT indicated that CLA could decrease the proliferation of tachyzoites of both strains in HeLa cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Conjugated linoleic acid has anti-toxoplasmacidal activity on tachyzoites of T. gondii. Therefore, we recommended further studies on this component in order to achieve a new drug against the parasite.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Jebreil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shamseddin
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Lame
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Akhlaghi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Razmjou
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeedeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shojaee
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Virology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hamid Reza
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Monavari
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nader
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tajik
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Soltan Ahmed
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ebrahimi
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Meamar
keywords: Apoptosis; Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA); RH strain; Toxoplasma gondii