Serum CXCL9 and CXCL10 as Emerging Biomarkers in Ocular Toxoplasmosis: Bridging Inflammation and Diagnostic Precision
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Published
Feb 18, 2026
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Abstract
Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT), the most prevalent cause of posterior uveitis worldwide, frequently results in severe visual impairment due to infections to Toxoplasma gondii. Chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10, induced by interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), are key mediators in directing T cells and monocytes to infected ocular tissue. This review synthesizes current evidence on the role of serum CXCL9 and CXCL10 in OT pathogenesis, highlighting their involvement in immune cell trafficking, the CXCR3 receptor pathway, and the balance between host defense and retinal damage. We critically examine differences in chemokine levels between acute and chronic phases, as well as their correlation with disease activity, across human and experimental studies. Additionally, their potential as biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring in both congenital and acquired OT is discussed. Elevated serum levels during active infection suggest clinical relevance, warranting further investigation through longitudinal and mechanistic studies to guide future therapeutic strategies.
Keywords
OCULAR TOXOPLASMOSIS, TOXOPLASMA GONDII, CXCL9, CXCL10, CHEMOKINES
Article Details
How to Cite
PUTRA, prasaundra triantoni; SOFIA, Ovi; FITRI, Loeki Enggar.
Serum CXCL9 and CXCL10 as Emerging Biomarkers in Ocular Toxoplasmosis: Bridging Inflammation and Diagnostic Precision.
International Journal of Retina, [S.l.], v. 9, n. 1, feb. 2026.
ISSN 2614-8536.
Available at: <https://www.ijretina.com/index.php/ijretina/article/view/338>. Date accessed: 17 apr. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.35479/ijretina.2026.vol009.iss001.338.
Section
Article Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
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2. Whitcup SM, Sen N, Holland GN. Whitcup and Nussenblatt’s Uveitis: Fundamentals and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2022.
3. Sofia O, Hariyono RW. Clinical characteristics and management of ocular toxoplasmosis. Int J Retina. 2019 Sep 18;2(2). doi:10.35479/ijretina.2019.vol002.iss002.96.
4. Jones JL, Kruszon-Moran D, Elder S, et al. Toxoplasma gondii infection in the United States, 2011–2014. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2018;98(2):551–7.
5. Smith JR, Ashander LM, Arruda SL, et al. Pathogenesis of ocular toxoplasmosis. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2021;81:100882.
6. Elsheikha HM, Marra CM, Zhu XQ. Epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of cerebral toxoplasmosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2020 Dec 16;34(1). doi:10.1128/CMR.00115-19.
7. Khan IA, MacLean JA, Lee FS, Casciotti L, DeHaan JD, Luster AD. IP-10 is critical for effector T-cell trafficking and host survival in Toxoplasma gondii infection. Immunity. 2000;12(4):483–94.
8. Marino AMP, dos Santos LI, Henriques PM, et al. Circulating inflammatory mediators as biomarkers of ocular toxoplasmosis in acute and chronic infection. J Leukoc Biol. 2020;108(4):1253–63.
9. Attias M, Teixeira DE, Benchimol M, Vommaro CR, Crepaldi PH, De Souza W. The life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii reviewed using animations. Parasit Vectors. 2020;13(1):588.
10. Rodriguez Fernandez V, Casini G, Bruschi F. Ocular toxoplasmosis: mechanisms of retinal infection and experimental models. Parasitologia. 2021;1(1):50–60.
11. Ólafsson EB. Signaling determinants in Trojan horse-mediated dissemination of Toxoplasma gondii [Internet]. 2019. Available from: https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:211006461
12. Chen Z, Cheng S, Chen X, Zhang Z, Du Y. New advances in immune mechanism and treatment during ocular toxoplasmosis. Front Immunol. 2024 May 10;15:1403025. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2024.1403025.
13. Yates WB, Chiong F, Zagora S, Post JJ, Wakefield D, McCluskey P. Ocular toxoplasmosis in a tertiary referral center in Sydney, Australia—clinical features, treatment, and prognosis. Asia Pac J Ophthalmol. 2019;8(4):280–4.
14. Borish LC, Steinke JW. Cytokines and chemokines. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003;111(2 Suppl):S460–5.
15. Aarab Y, Adams CE, Abubakar-Waziri H, et al. Encyclopedia of Respiratory Medicine. 2nd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2022.
16. Denney CF, Eckmann L, Reed SL. Chemokine secretion of human cells in response to Toxoplasma gondii infection. Infect Immun. 1999;67(4):1547–52.
17. Suzuki Y. The immune system utilizes two distinct effector mechanisms of T cells depending on two different life cycle stages of Toxoplasma gondii to control its cerebral infection. Parasitol Int. 2020;76:102030.
18. Abbas AK, Lichtman AH, Pillai S. Cellular and Molecular Immunology. 10th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2021.
19. de Araújo TE, dos Santos LI, Gomes AO, et al. Putative biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of congenital ocular toxoplasmosis. Sci Rep. 2020;10(1):16757.
20. Norose K, Kikumura A, Luster AD, Hunter CA, Harris TH. CXCL10 is required to maintain T-cell populations and to control parasite replication during chronic ocular toxoplasmosis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52(1):389–95.
21. Ochiai E, Sa Q, Brogli M, et al. CXCL9 is important for recruiting immune T cells into the brain and inducing their accumulation to prevent reactivation of chronic cerebral Toxoplasma gondii infection. Am J Pathol. 2015;185(2):314–24.
22. de Araújo TE, Coelho-Dos-Reis JG, Béla SR, et al. Early serum biomarker networks in infants with distinct retinochoroidal lesion status of congenital toxoplasmosis. Cytokine. 2017;95:102–12.
23. de Faria Junior GM, Ayo CM, de Oliveira AP, et al. CCR5 chemokine receptor gene polymorphisms in ocular toxoplasmosis. Acta Trop. 2018;178:276–80.
24. Denis J, Gommenginger C, Strechie T, Filisetti D, Beal L, Pfaff AW, Villard O. Dynamic immune profile in French toxoplasmosis patients. J Infect Dis. 2022;226(10):1834–41.
25. Mariam N, Al-Qaisi AQ. Assessing the potentiality of using CXCL9 as a predictive biomarker for acute and chronic toxoplasmosis, and study the correlation between CXCL9, toxoplasmosis and thyroid disorder in these cases. Iraqi J Sci. 2023;64(12):2707–16.