{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T00:58:52Z","timestamp":1791939532305,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":76,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786320000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Toxoplasma gondii infects most warm-blooded vertebrates and establishes lifelong persistence through latent bradyzoite cysts within long-lived tissues. We propose that this persistence may represent an evolved strategy of delayed pathogenicity. Because T. gondii completes sexual reproduction only in felids, most productively through ingestion of infected tissues, transmission may be favored by host impairments that increase vulnerability to predation or scavenging. However, pathogenic effects expressed too early could compromise host reproduction and reservoir maintenance. We therefore hypothesize that evolutionary pressures may favor pathogenic effects emerging predominantly later in host life, after reproduction has largely been achieved. Pharmacologic protozoal suppression has been associated with reduced mortality and multiple chronic diseases, while T. gondii DNA increases along the adenoma\u2013carcinoma sequence in gastrointestinal malignancies. Together, these observations motivate a testable framework linking long-term parasite persistence to late-life morbidity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms14081757","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T09:24:53Z","timestamp":1786353893000},"page":"1757","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Delayed Pathogenicity in Toxoplasma gondii as an Evolutionary Framework for Late-Life Disease and Mortality"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4389-8896","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ariel","family":"Israel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Leumit Research Institute, Leumit Health Services, 23 Sprinzak St., Tel Aviv 6473817, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Gray Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5646-0071","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarah","family":"Israel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1217","DOI":"10.1016\/S0020-7519(00)00124-7","article-title":"Toxoplasma gondii: From Animals to Humans","volume":"30","author":"Tenter","year":"2000","journal-title":"Int. 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