Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Determination of Chemical Inhibitor Efficiency against Intracellular Toxoplasma Gondii Growth Using a Luciferase-Based Growth Assay
09:49

Determination of Chemical Inhibitor Efficiency against Intracellular Toxoplasma Gondii Growth Using a Luciferase-Based Growth Assay

Published on: April 29, 2020

Evaluation of five antischizophrenic agents against Toxoplasma gondii in human cell cultures

David G Goodwin1, Jeannine S Strobl, David S Lindsay

  • 1Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0342, USA.

The Journal of Parasitology
|February 26, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Certain schizophrenia medications show activity against Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) in cell cultures. This suggests a potential link between T. gondii infection and schizophrenia treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Growing interest in the Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and schizophrenia association.
  • Some antipsychotics exhibit T. gondii activity in vitro and improve T. gondii-related behavioral changes in rats.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the efficacy of common antipsychotic and mood-stabilizing agents against T. gondii tachyzoites.

Main Methods:

  • Testing haloperidol, clozapine, fluphenazine, trifluoperazine, and thioridazine.
  • Assessing activity against the RH strain of T. gondii in human fibroblast cell cultures.

Main Results:

  • Haloperidol and clozapine showed no measurable effect.
  • Fluphenazine (IC50: 1.7 µM), thioridazine (IC50: 1.2 µM), and trifluoperazine (IC50: 3.8 µM) inhibited T. gondii proliferation.

Conclusions:

  • Some medications used for schizophrenia treatment possess the ability to inhibit T. gondii proliferation in cell culture.
  • Findings support further research into the T. gondii-schizophrenia connection and potential therapeutic strategies.

More Related Videos

Genetic Manipulation in Δku80 Strains for Functional Genomic Analysis of Toxoplasma gondii09:52

Genetic Manipulation in Δku80 Strains for Functional Genomic Analysis of Toxoplasma gondii

Published on: July 12, 2013

Related Concept Videos

Toxoplasmosis01:28

Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis, a zoonotic disease caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, poses significant public health challenges globally due to its high seroprevalence and varied clinical manifestations. As an obligate intracellular parasite, T. gondii can infect all warm-blooded vertebrates, but felids are its only definitive hosts, shedding unsporulated oocysts into the environment. Humans typically acquire the infection through ingestion of tissue cysts in undercooked meat or oocysts from...
Antiprotozoal Agents01:21

Antiprotozoal Agents

Leishmaniasis is a widespread parasitic disease caused by several Leishmania species. It affects millions of people each year and remains a major public health problem in endemic regions. First-line treatment relies on pentavalent antimonials, including meglumine antimoniate and sodium stibogluconate. Even so, how these drugs work has not been fully clear, especially their interaction with parasite-specific biochemical pathways. One key target is trypanothione reductase (TR), an enzyme that...