A pre-existing chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection promotes epileptogenesis and neuropathology in a mouse model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy
Bibliographic record
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: There is initial evidence that the common neurotropic parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a risk factor for the development of epilepsy; however, whether it influences epileptogenesis is unknown. This study investigated whether a pre-existing chronic T. gondii infection alters epileptogenesis and neuropathology in a mouse model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. METHODS: Male and female C57BL/6Jax mice were intraperitoneally administered T. gondii tachyzoites or vehicle control. After 6 weeks, mice underwent self-sustained electrical status epilepticus (SSSE) through an implanted bipolar electrode, or a sham procedure. Continuous video-EEG recordings were taken 0-4- and 12-16-weeks post-SSSE to detect spontaneous seizures. Neuroinflammatory markers were assessed within 1-week post-SSSE, behavior testing was done at 8-12 weeks post-SSSE, and ex vivo MRI was conducted at 16 weeks post-SSSE. RESULTS: Male T. gondii + SSSE mice had an increased incidence of epilepsy compared to Vehicle + SSSE, while female T. gondii + SSSE mice had worse seizure severity compared to non-infected SSSE mice. There was amplified neuroinflammation in both male and female T. gondii + SSSE mice compared to Vehicle + SSSE mice. T. gondii infection in the absence of SSSE also resulted in epilepsy and neuroinflammation. MRI revealed abnormalities in brain morphology in T. gondii + SSSE male and female mice and changes in white matter integrity in male T. gondii + SSSE mice, compared to both non-infected SSSE and T. gondii control mice. SSSE and T. gondii infection impacted anxiety and spatial memory in males, and anxiety and social behavior in females. INTERPRETATION: These findings demonstrate that a chronic T. gondii infection can result in epilepsy, and that a pre-existing T. gondii infection exacerbates epileptogenesis following a brain insult, in mice.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".