EFFECT OF SYNTHETIC GOLD NANOPARTICLES ON IMMUNE PROTEINS OF TOXOPLASMOSIS PATIENTS Authors: Ali Abed Khalaf*
ABSTRACT
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan that causes toxoplasmosis in human and
animal. This parasite is worldwide spread and about one third of people are seropositive.
Toxoplasmosis in immune compromised patients causes serious symptoms. A total of 14
antenatal women were included in the study. The study group comprised of antenatal women
with bad obstetric history (BOH) in the age group of 32-38 years and a total of 10 blood samples
and 6 lung lavage samples from Kidney transplanted patients admitted to the infectious wards
and the patients undergoing bronchoscopy were also collected. All the samples were screened by
ELISA for Toxoplasma specific Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG)
antibodies. Of the 14 antenatal women in the study group, 6 (42.3%) were seropositive for
Toxoplasma specific IgG antibodies (P < 0.005), 5 (35%) were seropositive for Toxoplasma
specific IgM antibodies (P < 0.005) and 4 (28.5%) were seropositive for both IgG and IgM
antibodies (P < 0.005). Gold nanoparticles were purchased directly from Sigma Aldrich, further
characterized with XRD, FTIR, SEM-EDX techniques. It was identified that purchased products
containing 54 nm particles and used against isolated T. gondiii samples. Results clearly indicate
the Au NPs significantly reduced the parasite Growth. The Au NPs significantly reduced the
parasite viability by 94% with EC50 values of <7?g/mL for AuNPs. Accordingly, Au NPs can
be considered as a promising alternative to the standard therapy for treating toxoplasmosis.
