THE IMPACT OF CHRONIC TOXOPLASMA GONDII INFECTION AND BACTERIAL COLONIZATION ON IL-6, IL-8 AND IL-10 LEVELS IN PREGNANT WOMEN

This study was to evaluate the correlation between the persistence of Toxoplasma gondii and the use of immunological markers in pregnant women, especially serum concentration of cytokines. Methodology :Case study that targeted 160 pregnant women in Ramadi, Iraq in a maternity and children hospital. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: 80 women with known infection (IgG-positive) and 80 seronegative healthy controls. ELISA detect anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibody (IgG & IgM) and the level of cytokine was measured. Results: showed that there was no significant difference between the ages of both groups (p = 0.34). The percentage of infected subjects (100) were positive with regards to IgG antibodies and percentage of controls being negative showed that there are very significant difference (P < 0.001). Both groups did not have IgM antibodies. Moreover, there was significant increase of serum levels of IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 in the infected group than controls (p < 0.05). In particular, there was a significant increase in IL-6 (4.8 vs. 1.1 pg/ml), IL-8 (11.6 vs. 2.9 pg/ml), and IL-10 (7.4 vs. 2.9 pg/ml) indicating better inflammatory and regulatory immune responses. E. coli was the most common bacterial pathogen isolated (24/52, 46.2%) of the total bacterial growth; hence the organism was found to be prevalent among all the bacteria recovered. This was followed by Klebsiella Pneumoniae (11), Proteus Mirabilis (8), Staphylococcus Aureus (6) and Pseudomonas Aeruginosa (3). These results show that Gram-negative species were the predominant with the highest number of infections, with E. coli still being the most important bacterial infection-causing agent among the pregnant population studied. Conclusion: Conclusion: chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection among pregnant women is related to significant changes in the cytokine profiles that include the increase of the pro-inflammatory) and the anti-inflammatory cytokines. These results demonstrate the existence of an intricate immune regulation process, which consists of both activation and regulation, with IgG antibodies being a sure indication of previous infection. Moreover, chronic T. gondii infection may be related to increased risk of bacterial co-infection, pointing to a possible interplay between susceptibility of bacteria and parasitic infection in pregnant women.