Global miRNA expression profiling of domestic cat livers following acute Toxoplasma gondii infection

Cong, Wei; Zhang, Xiao-Xuan; He, Jun-Jun; Li, Fa-Cai; Elsheikha, Hany M.; Zhu, Xing-Quan

Besides the adverse clinical consequences on humans and other intermediate hosts T. gondii can cause disseminated and fatal infection in cats [4] [5] [6] [7] 9] . Although any organ in the cat's body can be affected, clinical cases related to hepatic and pulmonary damage are particularly important because they are associated with quicker mortality [6, [10] [11] [12] . Also, liver dysfunction, enlargement, icterus, cholangiohepatitis, vomiting, abdominal effusion, and ascites are complications that frequently occur in T. gondii-infected cats. Therefore, with the great need for the development of efficacious treatment interventions (due to the lack of a vaccine and limited efficacies of current therapeutics), it is important to identify the molecular mechanisms that underpin liver damage caused by T. gondii infection. However, information about the molecular pathways that regulate the interaction between T. gondii and hepatic tissues has been limited to a few studies [13, 14] .