Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37224128›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

Defects in immune response to Toxoplasma gondii are associated with enhanced HIV-1-related neurocognitive impairment in co-infected patients.

Edwin Eliel Escobar-Guevara, María Esther de Quesada-Martínez, Yhajaira Beatriz Roldán-Dávila, Belkisyolé Alarcón de Noya, Miguel Antonio Alfonzo-Díaz

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 47% of its field
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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
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

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Edwin Eliel Escobar-GuevaraLaboratory of Cellular Immunophysiology, José Maria Vargas School of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.ORCID 0000-0003-3093-5491
María Esther de Quesada-MartínezDepartment of Physiopathology, José Maria Vargas School of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
Yhajaira Beatriz Roldán-DávilaService of Infectology, José Ignacio Baldó Hospital, Caracas, Venezuela.
Belkisyolé Alarcón de NoyaTropical Medicine Institute, Section of Immunology, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
Miguel Antonio Alfonzo-DíazLaboratory of Cellular Immunophysiology, José Maria Vargas School of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
Central University of Venezuela · VEInstituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas · VEUniversidad Nacional Experimental Francisco de Miranda · VE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and Toxoplasma gondii can invade the central nervous system and affect its functionality. Advanced HIV-1 infection has been associated with defects in immune response to T. gondii, leading to reactivation of latent infections and development of toxoplasmic encephalitis. This study evaluates relationship between changes in immune response to T. gondii and neurocognitive impairment in HIV-1/T. gondii co-infected patients, across different stages of HIV-1 infection. The study assessed the immune response to T. gondii by measuring cytokine production in response to parasite antigens, and also neurocognitive functions by performing auditory and visual P300 cognitive evoked potentials, short term memory (Sternberg) and executive function tasks (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-WCST) in 4 groups of individuals: HIV-1/T. gondii co-infected (P2), HIV-1-infected/T. gondii-non-infected (P1), HIV-1-non-infected/T. gondii-infected (C2) and HIV-1-non-infected/T. gondii-non-infected (C1). Patients (P1 and P2) were grouped in early/asymptomatic (P1A and P2A) or late/symptomatic (P1B/C and P2B/C) according to peripheral blood CD4+ T lymphocyte counts (>350 or <350/μL, respectively). Groups were compared using T-student or U-Mann-Whitney tests as appropriate, p<0.05 was considered as significantly. For P300 waves, HIV-1-infected patients (P1) had significantly longer latencies and significantly smaller amplitudes than uninfected controls, but HIV-1/T. gondii co-infected patients (P2) had significantly longer latencies and smaller amplitude than P1. P1 patients had significantly poorer results than uninfected controls in Sternberg and WCST, but P2 had significantly worse results than P1. HIV-1 infection was associated with significantly lower production of IL-2, TNF-α and IFN-γ in response to T. gondii from early/asymptomatic stages, when comparing P2 patients to C2 controls. These findings may indicate impairment in anti-parasitic response in co-infected patients, facilitating early limited reactivation of the parasitic latent infection, therefore creating cumulative damage in the brain and affecting neurocognitive functions from asymptomatic stages of HIV-1 infection, as suggested by defects in co-infected patients in this study.

Indexed as

CoinfectionHIV-1HIV InfectionsLatent InfectionToxoplasmaHumansImmunity

Identifiers

PMID37224128
PMCPMC10208516
OpenAlexW4378070793

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.