Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42020607›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2026

Blockade of Tim-3 pathway in a mouse model of Toxoplasmosis: impact on brain leukocyte infiltration, parasite burden, and neuroinflammation.

Raphael P Viscidi, Jing Huang, Ye Li, Emily G Severance, Jianchun Xiao

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. 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. T cell exhaustion in parasitic infections.Frontiers in immunology · 2026
    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

5 authors.

Raphael P ViscidiDepartment of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
Jing HuangStanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
Ye LiStanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
Emily G SeveranceStanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA.
Jianchun XiaoStanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21287, USA. jxiao4@jhmi.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cell-mediated immune responses are crucial for protecting the host against Toxoplasma gondii infection. However, impaired immunity, such as T-cell exhaustion, is a common phenomenon during chronic infection. This may represent a strategy employed by T. gondii to evade host defenses. T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing 3 (Tim-3) is an important regulatory molecule involved in cell-mediated immunity. This study examined the expression of Tim-3 and the effects of its blockade in a mouse model of toxoplasmosis. In mice with chronic T. gondii infection, we found that Tim-3 is highly expressed in both cyst-bearing and non-cyst-bearing tissues, and its expression correlates with the parasite burden. Blocking the Tim-3 pathway with an anti-Tim-3 antibody enhances the immune response, resulting in elevated levels of cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-12p70, IL-2, IL-9) and the chemokine CXCL1 in the serum, increased leukocyte infiltration (CD3 + , CD14 + cells) in the brain, and downregulation of Tim-3 expression in microglial cells. As a result, the anti-Tim-3 treatment resulted in a 62% reduction in the number of tissue cysts and a trend towards an increase in the homeostatic signature, P2RY12, in microglia. Our study provides proof of concept for an anti-Tim-3 approach in treating chronic T. gondii infection and potentially other brain-residing pathogens.

Indexed as

BrainHepatitis A Virus Cellular Receptor 2LeukocytesNeuroinflammatory DiseasesToxoplasmaToxoplasmosisAnimalsCytokinesDisease Models, AnimalFemaleMiceMicrogliaParasite LoadSignal TransductionCytokinesHavcr2 protein, mouseHepatitis A Virus Cellular Receptor 2BrainLeukocyte infiltrationMAG1MicrogliaTim-3Toxoplasma

Identifiers

PMID42020607
PMCPMC13269701

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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.