Tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin 1 alpha, and interleukin 6 mRNA expressed by human astrocytoma cells after infection by three different strains ofToxoplasma gondii

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Abstract
The role of cytokines in the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis remains unknown to a large extent, especially in the case of reactivation that occurs in immunocompromised patients. To assess the importance of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interleukin 1 alpha (IL1 α), and interleukin 6 (IL6), we studied the expression of these three cytokines by human astrocytoma cells after infection by three different strains ofToxoplasma gondii. The virulent RH strain, the intermediate 76K strain, and the cystogenic Prugniaud strain did not induce significantly different levels of expression of the cytokine messenger RNAs when the cytokines were studied at 1, 3, 6, and 24 h after parasitic infection. These results could indicate that infection byT. gondii strains of different virulence do not involve strong differences in TNFα, IL1α, or IL6 expression by human astrocytoma cells.