Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32810131›Full record

ArticlePloS one2020

Computational image analysis reveals the structural complexity of Toxoplasma gondii tissue cysts.

Neda Bauman, Andjelija Ilić, Olivera Lijeskić, Aleksandra Uzelac, Ivana Klun, Jelena Srbljanović, Vladimir Ćirković, Branko Bobić, Tijana Štajner, Olgica Djurković-Djaković

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Neda BaumanNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.ORCID 0000-0002-4162-0703
Andjelija IlićInstitute of Physics Belgrade, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.ORCID 0000-0003-0859-6358
Olivera LijeskićNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.ORCID 0000-0002-9009-1924
Aleksandra UzelacNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Ivana KlunNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Jelena SrbljanovićNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Vladimir ĆirkovićNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Branko BobićNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Tijana ŠtajnerNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Olgica Djurković-DjakovićNational Reference Laboratory for Toxoplasmosis, Center of Excellence for Food- and Vector-borne Zoonoses, Institute for Medical Research, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.ORCID 0000-0001-7521-8598

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite infecting up to one third of the human population. The central event in the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis is the conversion of tachyzoites into encysted bradyzoites. A novel approach to analyze the structure of in vivo-derived tissue cysts may be the increasingly used computational image analysis. The objective of this study was to quantify the geometrical complexity of T. gondii cysts by morphological, particle, and fractal analysis, as well as to determine if it is impacted by parasite strain, cyst age, and host type. A total of 31 images of T. gondii brain cysts of four type-2 strains (Me49, and local isolates BGD1, BGD14, and BGD26) was analyzed using ImageJ software. The parameters of interest included diameter, circularity, packing density (PD), fractal dimension (FD), and lacunarity. Although cyst diameter varied widely, its negative correlation with PD was observed. Circularity was remarkably close to 1, indicating a perfectly round shape of the cysts. PD and FD did not vary among cysts of different strains, age, and derived from mice of different genetic background. Conversely, lacunarity, which is a measure of heterogeneity, was significantly lower for BGD1 strain vs. all other strains, and higher for Me49 vs. BGD14 and BGD26, but did not differ among Me49 cysts of different age, or those derived from genetically different mice. The results indicate a highly uniform structure and occupancy of the different T. gondii tissue cysts. This study furthers the use of image analysis in describing the structural complexity of T. gondii cyst morphology, and presents the first application of fractal analysis for this purpose. The presented results show that use of a freely available software is a cost-effective approach to advance automated image scoring for T. gondii cysts.

Indexed as

AnimalsBrainFemaleFractalsHost-Parasite InteractionsHumansImage Interpretation, Computer-AssistedMiceMice, Inbred BALB CToxoplasmaToxoplasmosis, Animal

Identifiers

PMID32810131
PMCPMC7444489

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.