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Review
. 2020 Oct 21:11:e00189.
doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00189. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Effect of chitosan on Toxoplasma gondii infection: A systematic review

Kourosh Cheraghipour  1 , Leila Masoori  2 , Fatemeh Ezzatkhah  3 , Iraj Salimikia  1 , Sana Amiri  1 , Ali Safar Makenali  4 , Farshad Taherpour  1 , Hossein Mahmoudvand  5
Affiliations
Review

Effect of chitosan on Toxoplasma gondii infection: A systematic review

Kourosh Cheraghipour et al. Parasite Epidemiol Control. .

Abstract

Background: The preferred treatment for management of toxoplasmosis is the combined use of pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine. However, there are a wide number of adverse side effects with these medications. Recent research has focused on the use of chitosan for the treatment of Toxoplasma gondii infections. This review was performed to obtain a better understanding of the in vivo and in vitro effects of chitosan on T. gondii strains.

Methods: The current study was carried out according to the PRISMA guideline and registered in the CAMARADES-NC3Rs Preclinical Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Facility (SyRF) database. The search was performed in five scientific databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Google Scholar, with date limits of 1992 to December 2019. The search was restricted to articles published in the English language. The words and terms searched were "Toxoplasma gondii", "Chitosan", "nanoparticles" and "anti-toxoplasmosis" with AND or OR.

Results: Of 2500 manuscripts, 9 met the eligibility criteria for review. All studies used the RH strain of T. gondii, with Me49 and PRU each included in one study. Five studies (56%) were performed in vivo, one study in vitro and 3 studies included in vivo and in vitro tests.

Conclusion: Considering the low toxicity and the high inhibitory potency of chitosan against T. gondii, chitosan nanoparticles show potential as an alternative treatment for T. gondii infections.

Keywords: In vitro; In vivo; Nanoparticles; Natural products; Toxoplasmosis; Treatment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart describing the study design process.
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