, Lame AKHLAGHI

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of conjugated lino-leic acid (CLA) on apoptosis of tachyzoites of T. gondii, RH strain (type I) and the cyst-forming Tehran strain (type II) in vitro. Methods: Toxoplasma strains were injected into the peritoneal cavity of BALB/c mice. The Tehran strain forms cysts in the brain of mice. Bradyzoites within the cysts are reactivated to proliferative tachyzoites, by dexamethasone. Tachyzoites were aspirated from the peritoneum of infected mice, and the percentage of viable parasites was estimated with trypan blue staining. Tachyzoites were inoculated into HeLa cells cultivated in DMEM medium. Different concentrations of CLA were evaluated on T. gondii in HeLa cells by the tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay. Differentiation between apoptosis and cell death was determined by flow cytome-try using Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) double staining. The statistical anal-ysis performed by GraphPad Prism version 6.00. Results: CLA induces apoptosis in virulent (RH) and avirulent (Tehran) strains o