INCREASED APOPTOSIS SKULL OF PUPS BORN TO TOXOPLASMA GONDII-INFECTED MICE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED EXPRESSION OF INTERFERON GAMMA, BUT NOT TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALFA

Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular obligate protozoan parasite that infects most warm-blooded animals including humans. It can cause congenital infection with clinical symptoms ranging from mild to severe including microcephaly. At the cellular level, infection T. gondii causes apoptosis in some tissues and it is induced by proinflammatory cytokines, such as IFN-γ and TNF-α. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IFN-γ) to apoptosis skull of newborn from T. gondii-infected mice