Immunological And Genotyping Study of Toxoplasma Gondi and Its Relationship with Toll Like Receptor 4 “TLR4” Polymorphism in Aborted Women

Abstract

Background: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) causes toxoplasmosis, a dangerous and prevalent disease. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the best-studied pattern recognition receptors in mammals. Objective: The current study was conducted at Al-Diwaniya Maternity and Children Teaching Hospital, Diwaniyah city, Iraq, from December 2020 to August 2021. Methods: Blood samples and placenta tissue pieces were collected prospectively from 30 patients newly diagnosed with toxoplasmosis and 64 healthy controls. Women in both groups underwent a spontaneous abortion. A human Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) ELISA kit was used to measure TLR4 levels and blood DNA extraction. ARMS-PCR was adopted to analyze the polymorphism for TLR4 Asp299Gly, and SAG3 marker was used to analyze the genotype of Toxoplasma strains. Results:The frequency distribution of the A allele and G allele was statistically non-significant between the patients and the control group. The polymorphism analysis of the Asp299Gly SNP in the TLR4 gene showed abortion had no significant association with toxoplasma infection (P> 0.05). Genotype II was more prevalent in aborted Iraqi women (22/30) than in control. The obtained result revealed that the concentration of TLR4 in serum women infected with type I Toxoplasma was significantly higher (P< 0.05) in the AA genotype of TLR4 Asp299Gly ( mean 1328 pg/ml, SD: 266.1pg/ml ), compared to AG genotype (mean; 923.6 pg/ml, SD: 27.2 pg/ml). Discussion: These findings highlighted the significance of TLR molecules in Toxoplasma gondii infection and the need for close collaboration between practitioners and to lessen the illness burden of toxoplasmosis.