ABSTRACT
T oxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes an asymptomatic infection in a significant percentage of the world s population. Healthy hosts mount a robust innate response mediated by IL-12, which influences the development of pro tective cell-mediated immunity by stimulating N K and T cells to produce IFN-γ. Although macrophages can be infected by T gondii, they are able to limit parasite replication and pro duce cytokines that contribute to resistance, making them important regulatory and effector cells during toxoplasmosis. A large body of work has focused on the interactions between para sites and these host cells, and contributed to our understanding o f the pro-inflammatory activi ties of macrophages during T gondii infection.
