{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T16:17:09Z","timestamp":1788797829672,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,23]],"date-time":"2022-12-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1671753600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Specific Research Project of Guangxi for Research Base and Talents","award":["AD22035040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AD22035040"]}]},{"name":"Specific Research Project of Guangxi for Research Base and Talents","award":["2021GXNSFBA220004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021GXNSFBA220004"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region","award":["AD22035040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AD22035040"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region","award":["2021GXNSFBA220004"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021GXNSFBA220004"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread intracellular pathogen that infects humans and a variety of animals. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), an effective anti-malarial drug, has potential anti-T. gondii activity that induces ferroptosis in tumor cells, but the mechanism by which it kills T. gondii is not fully understood. In this study, the mechanism of DHA inhibiting T. gondii growth and its possible drug combinations are described. DHA potently inhibited T. gondii with a half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 0.22 \u03bcM. DHA significantly increased the ROS level of parasites and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential, which could be reversed by ferroptosis inhibitors (DFO). Moreover, the ferroptosis inducer RSL3 inhibited T. gondii with an EC50 of 0.75 \u03bcM. In addition, RSL3 enhanced the DHA-induced ROS level, and the combination of DHA and RSL3 significantly increased the anti-Toxoplasma effect as compared to DHA alone. In summary, we found that DHA-induced ROS accumulation in tachyzoites may be an important cause of T. gondii growth inhibition. Furthermore, we found that the combination of DHA and RSL3 may be an alternative to toxoplasmosis. These results will provide a new strategy for anti-Toxoplasma drug screening and clinical medication guidance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms24010229","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,23]],"date-time":"2022-12-23T02:36:46Z","timestamp":1671763006000},"page":"229","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Evaluation of the Combined Effect of Artemisinin and Ferroptosis Inducer RSL3 against Toxoplasma gondii"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Mao","family":"Huang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinru","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yucong","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuehong","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yazhen","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9917-4817","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dandan","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China"},{"name":"Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Engineering Research Center of Veterinary Biologics, Nanning 530004, China"},{"name":"Guangxi Key Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Breeding and Disease Control, Nanning 530004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0680-2771","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xingju","family":"Song","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China"},{"name":"Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Engineering Research Center of Veterinary Biologics, Nanning 530004, China"},{"name":"Guangxi Key Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, Breeding and Disease Control, Nanning 530004, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1965","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(04)16412-X","article-title":"Toxoplasmosis","volume":"363","author":"Montoya","year":"2004","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nayeri, T., Sarvi, S., Moosazadeh, M., Amouei, A., Hosseininejad, Z., and Daryani, A. 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