Hepatic xanthine oxidase activity and purine nucleosides levels as physiological mediators to analyze a subcutaneous treatment with (PhSe)2 in mice infected by Toxoplasma gondii

The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of purine nucleosides and xanthine oxidase (XO) activity in the liver of mice chronically infected by Toxoplasma gondii and treated with diphenyl diselenide (PhSe)2. For this experiment, forty Swiss mice were used. Twenty animals were orally infected by approximately 50 bradizoites of a cystogenic ME-49 strain of T. gondii, and the same number of uninfected mice was used as a control group. Ten infected and ten uninfected mice were subcutaneously treated twice (days 1 and 20 post-infection (PI)) with 5 μmol kg−1 of (PhSe)2. On day 30 PI, liver samples were collected to measure the levels of hypoxanthine (HYPO), xanthine (XAN), uric acid (UA), and XO activity. Infected animals showed increased (P