Effect of Platelet Rich Plasma versus Conventional Therapy on Early and Late ME 49 Toxoplasma Gondii Infection in Immunocompromised Mice

Toxoplasmosis is a highly prevalent worldwide opportunistic parasitic infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii. It is associated with various morbidities in immunocompetent patients while in immunosuppressed patients, it can be fatal. Available drugs cannot eradicate the infection completely and induce several side effects. Thus, the present work aimed to evaluate the possible therapeutic effects of platelet rich plasma (PRP) alone or in combination with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine (PYR/SDZ) in treatment of early and late toxoplasmosis. The research was carried out on 60 mice, divided into two experiments (A: early and B: late toxoplasmosis), 30 mice each. In each experiment, the mice were divided into 5 subgroups; I: non-infected, non-treated, II: infected, non-treated, III: infected and treated by PYR/SDZ, IV: infected and treated by PRP alone and V: infected and treated by PRP+ PYR/SDZ. All mice were assessed parasitologically (tissue cyst count), histopathologically (brain sections) and immunologically (IFN- γ level). The best results were recorded in PRP+ PYR/SDZ group with 90.06% and 89.08% reduction percentages in tissue cyst count in early and late stages respectively, resolving all the inflammatory changes and the highest increase of IFN- γ level among all groups. PRP alone yielded 61.58% and 47.16% reduction percentages in early and late stages respectively, with great improvement of the histopathological findings and high elevation of IFN- γ level compared to 81.64% and 60.46% reduction percentages in mice treated with PYR/SDZ alone in early and late stages respectively, with improvement of the histopathological changes and the lowest increase of IFN- γ level. It can be concluded that PRP combined with PYR/SDZ can be a good candidate for treatment of acute and chronic toxoplasmosis.