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. 1997 Jan;41(1):188–190. doi: 10.1128/aac.41.1.188

Treatment with interleukin 12 in combination with atovaquone or clindamycin significantly increases survival of mice with acute toxoplasmosis.

F G Araujo 1, C A Hunter 1, J S Remington 1
PMCID: PMC163683  PMID: 8980778

Abstract

The capacity of interleukin 12 (IL-12) to potentiate drugs in the treatment of murine toxoplasmosis was examined. IL-12 (100 ng/injection), atovaquone (10 mg/kg of body weight/day), or clindamycin (5 mg/kg/day) administered alone caused delayed time to death or minimal survival rates. In contrast, significant survival rates resulted when the same dose of IL-12 was used in combination the same doses of atovaquone (P=0.01) or clindamycin (P=0.001). Infected mice treated with IL-12 plus drug produced significantly higher levels of gamma interferon than controls. Although IL-12 was effective only when administered before infection, these results suggest that this cytokine may be a useful adjunct in the therapy of human toxoplasmosis in situations when cysts reactivate and tachyzoites start multiplying in immunocompromised patients.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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