View clinical trials related to Toxoplasmosis, Congenital.
Filter by:The Toxoplasma gondii parasite causes toxoplasmosis. It is characterized by persistent cysts mostly localised in the brain and ocular areas. In the case of immunodeficiency, those cysts are likely to reactivate. During pregnancy, an infection exposes the foetus to a variety of consequences, from severe neurologic lesions to subclinical forms at birth. However, those forms are likely to complicate at any age to toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis, that can unpredictably recur with severe functional consequences. Pregnancy may stimulate lesions or their recurrences, putting the foetus at risk of contamination because of the release of tachyzoites in the bloodstream. The occurrence of these complications is poorly known, especially with congenital toxoplasmosis. Nevertheless, this information is essential to take care of patients, particularly women with congenital toxoplasmosis, usually worried about the consequences of a pregnancy. As a precaution, women with congenital toxoplasmosis follow a specific ophthalmologic, and trimonthly monitoring, composed of fundus examinations during pregnancy and in postpartum. To eliminate the contamination risk, serological examinations at birth and one year later are done on their kids. The aim of this study is to estimate the risk of toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis during pregnancy and the impact on their children. Retrospective and prospective data from the Lyon Cohort of Maternal and Congenital Toxoplasma Infections will be used. As a result of to this study, the investigators expect to provide better information to women suffering from congenital toxoplasmosis about their own ocular safety during pregnancy, and the safety of their child(ren). The investigators seek to provide new national and international recommendations about these patients and their children's care.
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii and transmitted to humans through the consumption of raw or undercooked infected meat and / or by poorly washed vegetables. It can be transmitted from the pregnant woman to the fetus when infection occurs during pregnancy leading to congenital toxoplasmosis. Once infected, it is considered that the subject harbors cyst forms of the parasite in the muscles and brain for life with a risk of reactivation when immunocompromised. Recently, questions have been raised about the persistence of these cysts. Currently, only serological diagnosis can demonstrate the infection. This is done by detecting IgM and IgG directed against the parasite. Although humoral immunity is useful to diagnose toxoplasmosis, the cellular immunity is responsible of the main protective role during infection with the secretion of cytokines such as gamma interferon. In some situations, the serological diagnosis is limited: in immunocompromised subjects, some immunocompetent patients, in children with congenital toxoplasmosis, in which the anti T. gondii antibodies are no longer detectable. In order to have a true evaluation of the capacities of the immune system of each individual against T. gondii infection, it is necessary to evaluate the effector immune cells. The main objective of this protocol is to set up a cellular test with the stimulation of lymphocyte by T. gondii. For this objective, 20 subjects (10 positive, 10 negative for Toxoplasmosis serology) will be included. The secondary objective will be to compare the cellular diagnosis (evaluation by ELISA of the secretion of gamma interferon in the supernatant of cells stimulated by the Ag) with the serological diagnosis (IgG and IgM Alinity Abbott and Western blot LD Bio) in 3 groups of 10 patients: chronically infected patients, uninfected patients, patients with congenital toxoplasmosis as well as to assess the persistence or not of cellular and humoral immunity against T. gondii in 10 patients who had acute toxoplasmosis with a known date infection more than 10 years. Thus, 60 patients will be included for a total study period of 24 months. This study will thus allow the sponsor to have a clear understanding whether a subject is able or not to react against T. gondii infection.
Caused by Toxoplasma gondii, toxoplasmosis is mostly asymptomatic except in immunocompromised individuals and infants infected in utero. Congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) results from the transplacental passage of the parasite, which occurs in 30% of cases of primary infection during pregnancy. Neonatal biological diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is essential in the case of (i) suggestive clinical signs in the newborn with no information on the serological status of the mother, (ii) seroconversion diagnosed during pregnancy, (iii) not or poorly followed pregnancy, and (iiii) for enhanced effectiveness of treatments administered as soon as possible to the newborn. Given the limitations of current diagnostic tests, the characterization of specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G neo-synthesized by the newborn would be of great help for an early diagnosis of CT. The main objective of the TOXODIAG project is to validate and evaluate the ELISPOT (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent SPOT assay) method for detecting, in the newborn, B lymphocytes (LyB) sensitized in utero to produce T. gondii specific immunoglobulins (Ig) following a primary infection of the mother during the pregnancy. More precisely, the detection and quantification of LyB secreting IgG and IgM specific for T. gondii using the ELISPOT method will be applied i) to mononuclear cells of women in seroconversion following a toxoplasmic primo-infection during pregnancy and ii) to cord blood mononuclear cells of newborns suspected of CT, in comparison to positive and negative infection controls. To reach this goal, TOXODIAG is a diagnostic, multicentric, prospective, non-randomized, comparative and controlled study. It will be performed in 3 parallel groups of pregnant women performing prenatal follow-up and giving birth in the maternity wards of 3 hospitals of the AP-HP (Louis MOURIER, Bichat-Claude Bernard and Cochin) which ensure mother/child follow-up and biological sampling, with great gynecology and obstetrics expertise. Sixty women will be selected and included into 3 groups according to toxoplasmic seroconversion during pregnancy (n=30), positive (n=15) or negative (n=15) toxoplasma serology. The necessary biological material will consist in additional blood tubes which will be taken at the same time as those performed for the usual pregnancy follow-up examinations and will correspond to maternal peripheral blood at inclusion, seroconversion and delivery as well as cord blood.
Several decades ago, France has made the choice to implement a national prevention program for congenital toxoplasmosis. The identification in their first trimester of pregnancy of all pregnant women who are susceptible to Toxoplasma infection has been mandatory since 1985. In 1992, the decision was made to extent the program to the monthly retesting of all women identified as not immune, in an attempt to reduce the number of severely infected children. The systematic detection of all maternal and congenital infections has generated many questions from clinicians, biologists, parents and older patients, on the short and long-term prognosis of congenital toxoplasmosis, on the best tests to use to diagnose infections in mothers and children, on the efficacy of existing treatments, and on how to manage patients in the long-term. The need to answer these many questions has prompted the medical team working within the laboratory and the outpatient department of the Parasitology Department at the Croix-Rousse Hospital in Lyon to implement a clinical research program. It is based on the systematic inclusion in our cohort of all pregnant women whose infection is confirmed, on their follow up, in order to monitor the outcome of pregnancy 2) and on the follow up of their children in order to confirm their infection or to rule it out. All congenitally infected subjects undergo clinical examinations, serological tests and ocular examination at least once a year without age limit. The following data are prospectively collected in a dedicated database: gestational age at maternal infection and corresponding serological profile; type and dates of maternal treatment; findings of ultrasound tests and amniotic fluid analysis; serological and clinical findings at birth; types and dates of postnatal treatment; postnatal serological profiles; infection status at one year of age; long term clinical (ophthalmologic) et serological findings. These data have allowed producing original findings on the risk of maternal-foetal transmission according to gestational age at maternal infection, on the long term ophthalmological outcome of congenital toxoplasmosis and to offer guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of maternal and congenital infections. These efforts are still to be maintained in the future in order - to further analyse the impact of puberty, pregnancy, or adult co-morbidities on the risk of ophthalmological events - to increase precision around our risk estimates for materno-foetal transmission, - to continue innovating in terms of diagnostic strategy to improve tests performances and reduce costs - to explore new potential clinical outcomes such as neuropsychiatric disorders associated with congenital and postnatal infection - to determine if infections due to oocysts could have different clinical outcomes than those due to the ingestion of cysts - to assess the efficacy of treatments for maternal and congenital infections
Toxoplasmosis is a benign disease in healthy adults, but can be serious in the case of contamination during pregnancy: the parasite can pass through the placental barrier and infect the foetus. The severity of congenital infection varies, but in France, where maternal seroconversions during pregnancy are treated, the manifestations of the disease are often infraclinical at birth and only appear during the first years of life in the form of retinochoroiditis. In order to prevent long-term sequellae, children with confirmed congenital toxoplasmosis (TC) are treated with pyrimethamine combined with either sulfadiazine or sulfadoxine (Fansidar®). The relative efficacy of these two combinations has not yet been evaluated. Moreover, there is no consensus about the duration of the treatment, which varies, in France, from 12 to 24 months depending on the centre. Compared with the duration of parasitaemia in non-treated children, which can persist for up to 4 weeks, these treatments are very long. They are also far longer than the 3 months of treatment, which is in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, given in Denmark to infants identified as being infected with the parasite during neonatal screening. A one-year treatment was developed in the United States, but it mainly concerns only symptomatic children, given the absence of generalised screening in the United States of America (USA). We have no arguments to justify the use of treatments lasting one year or more in children with asymptomatic or mildly-symptomatic TC. As these treatments carry certain risks, which may be severe, notably with regard to haematological or skin conditions, they have to be supervised closely with biological tests, which adds further constraints for both the children and their parents and increases the cost to health care systems.
Background : When a mother contracts toxoplasmosis during pregnancy, the parasite may be transmitted from to her unborn child. This results in congenital toxoplasmosis, which may cause damage to the eyes and nervous system of the child. To date, no method has been proved effective to prevent this transmission. In France, spiramycin is usually prescribed to women who have toxoplasma seroconversion in pregnancy, however its efficacy has not been determined. The standard treatment for toxoplasmosis is the combination of the antiparasitic drugs pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, but this strategy has not been evaluated for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. Purpose : Randomized phase 3 trial to determine whether pyrimethamine + sulfadiazine is more effective than spiramycin to prevent congenital toxoplasmosis.
RATIONALE: Congenital toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by the parasitic organism Toxoplasma gondii, and it may be passed from an infected mother to her unborn child. The mother may have mild symptoms or no symptoms; the fetus, however, may experience damage to the eyes, nervous system, skin, and ears. The newborn may have a low birth weight, enlarged liver and spleen, jaundice, anemia, petechiae, and eye damage. Giving the antiparasitic drugs pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine is standard treatment for congenital toxoplasmosis, but it is not yet known which regimen of pyrimethamine is most effective for the disease. PURPOSE: Randomized phase IV trial to determine which regimen of pyrimethamine is most effective when combined with sulfadiazine and leucovorin in treating patients who have congenital toxoplasmosis.