| Grant number: | 18/09448-8 |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate |
| Start date: | October 01, 2018 |
| End date: | June 13, 2023 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Immunology - Immunogenetics |
| Principal Investigator: | Luiz Carlos de Mattos |
| Grantee: | Geraldo Magela de Faria Junior |
| Host Institution: | Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP). Secretaria de Desenvolvimento Econômico (São Paulo - Estado). São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil |
| Associated scholarship(s): | 19/05581-8 - Techniques of genotyping for molecular epidemiology and population study of Toxoplasma gondii, BE.EP.DR |
Abstract Toxoplasmosis is an endemic disease worldwide and responsible for various morbidities in both humans and animals. It has emerged as one of the most common opportunistic infections in immunocompetent patients and may be fatal to the fetus. Toxoplasma gondii infection, the etiological agent of toxoplasmosis, results in the induction of immune responses (innate and adaptive) with consequent production of cytokines, antibodies and activation of T lymphocytes (CD8, CD4-TH1, CD4-TH2, B). microRNAs (miRNAs) are molecules of non-coding RNAs that have 21-25 nucleotides and function as a negative regulator of gene expression. The overall objective of this project is to investigate microRNA expression levels (miR-712-3p, miR 511-5p, miR-217-5p, miR 9-2) in patients with active lesion and scar resulting from T. infection. gondii. Its specific objectives include: 1- Select three groups so constituted: Group 1 (G1): patients with active ocular lesion and reactive serology; Group 2 (G2): patients with ocular scar and reactive serology; Group (G3): patients without lesion or ocular scar from toxoplasmosis, with reactive serology. 2- To verify the presence of anti-T.gondii antibodies of classes IgM and IgG in the serum of these patients as identifiers of acute and chronic infection; 3- Extract and quantify the miRNAs miR-712-3p, miR 511-5p, miR-217-5p and miR 9-2 in the three groups of patients; 4 - Relate the presence of ocular lesion and its activity as well as the ocular scar with the expression levels of the miRNAs mentioned above. Three groups of patients will be selected at the Hospital de Base Retinopathy Outpatient Clinic (FUNFARME), characterized as follows: Group 1 (G1) at least 100 consecutive ethnically independent patients with active lesion and reactive serology for ocular toxoplasmosis. Group 2 (G2) at least 100 patients who present reactive serology and ocular scar; Group 3 (G3) at least 100 patients with reactive serology and no lesion or ocular scar from toxoplasmosis. For the serological analysis, the ELFA immunoenzymatic test will be performed. For analysis of the expression of specific microRNAs by quantitative Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR). Quantitative variables will be described by mean, median and standard deviation. To verify the accuracy of the use of the miRNAs for the diagnosis of T.gondii infection will be used the ROC curve. A confidence interval (CI) of 95.0% will be considered and the differences will be considered statistically significant when the p value is d 0.05. The results may contribute to the understanding of the pathogenesis of ocular toxoplasmosis | |
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