Toxoplasma gondii infection and liver disease: a case-control study in a Northern Mexican population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infection with the protozoan parasite <it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>may cause liver disease. However, the impact of the infection in patients suffering from liver disease is unknown. Therefore, through a case-control study design, 75 adult liver disease patients attending a public hospital in Durango City, Mexico, and 150 controls from the general population of the same region matched by gender, age, and residence were examined with enzyme-linked immunoassays for the presence of anti-<it>Toxoplasma </it>IgG and anti-<it>Toxoplasma </it>IgM antibodies. Socio-demographic, clinical and behavioral characteristics from the study subjects were obtained.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seroprevalence of anti-<it>Toxoplasma </it>IgG antibodies and IgG titers did not differ significantly in patients (10/75; 13.3%) and controls (16/150; 10.7%). Two (2.7%) patients and 5 (3.3%) controls had anti-<it>Toxoplasma </it>IgM antibodies (<it>P </it>= 0.57). Seropositivity to <it>Toxoplasma </it>did not show any association with the diagnosis of liver disease. In contrast, seropositivity to <it>Toxoplasma </it>in patients was associated with consumption of venison and quail meat. <it>Toxoplasma </it>seropositivity was more frequent in patients with reflex impairment (27.8%) than in patients without this impairment (8.8%) (<it>P </it>= 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that <it>Toxoplasma </it>seropositivity in patients was associated with consumption of sheep meat (OR = 8.69; 95% CI: 1.02-73.71; <it>P </it>= 0.04) and rabbit meat (OR = 4.61; 95% CI: 1.06-19.98; <it>P </it>= 0.04).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Seropositivity to <it>Toxoplasma </it>was comparable among liver disease patients and controls. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to elucidate the association of <it>Toxoplasma </it>with liver disease. Consumption of venison, and rabbit, sheep, and quail meats may warrant further investigation.</p

Retroviral matrix and lipids, the intimate interaction

Retroviruses are enveloped viruses that assemble on the inner leaflet of cellular membranes. Improving biophysical techniques has recently unveiled many molecular aspects of the interaction between the retroviral structural protein Gag and the cellular membrane lipids. This interaction is driven by the N-terminal matrix domain of the protein, which probably undergoes important structural modifications during this process, and could induce membrane lipid distribution changes as well. This review aims at describing the molecular events occurring during MA-membrane interaction, and pointing out their consequences in terms of viral assembly. The striking conservation of the matrix membrane binding mode among retroviruses indicates that this particular step is most probably a relevant target for antiviral research