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Sato AP, Silva TCED, Pontes TPD, Konell AL, Barros LDD, Varaschin MS, Oliveira Junior IMD, Sanches AWD, Locatelli-Dittrich R. Molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in seabirds collected along the coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 2024; 33:e003624. [PMID: 38656050 DOI: 10.1590/s1984-29612024019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are two closely related protozoans that infect a wide range of animals, including birds. However, the occurrence of N. caninum and T. gondii in seabirds is unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the presence of T. gondii and N. caninum DNA in tissue samples of seabirds. Tissue samples of the pectoral muscles, heart, and brain were collected from 47 birds along the coastline of Santa Catarina State, SC, Brazil. The DNA was extracted from the tissues and screened using nested-PCR (nPCR) targeting internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1). T. gondii DNA was detected in tissues from seven seabirds (7/47, 14.8%), kelp gull (Larus dominicanus) (5/21), and Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus) (2/8). N. caninum DNA was detected in tissues of nine seabirds (9/47, 19.1%), the kelp gull (L. dominicanus) (4/21), Manx shearwater (P. puffinus) (2/8), neotropic cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) (1/4), brown booby (Sula leucogaster) (1/5), and white-chinned petrel (Procellaria aequinoctialis) (1/1); however, no co-infection was observed. In conclusion, this study showed the circulation of N. caninum and T. gondii in seabirds along the coastline of Santa Catarina State. Further studies are required to clarify the role of these birds in the epidemiology of neosporosis and toxoplasmosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Paula Sato
- Departmento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal do Paraná - UFPR, Curitiba, PR, Brasil
| | - Tiffany Christiny Emmerich da Silva
- Projeto de Monitoramento de Praias da Bacia de Santos - PMP-BS, Unidade de Estabilização de Aves Marinhas, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí - UNIVALI, Penha, SC, Brasil
| | - Thamires Pires de Pontes
- Projeto de Monitoramento de Praias da Bacia de Santos - PMP-BS, Unidade de Estabilização de Aves Marinhas, Universidade do Vale do Itajaí - UNIVALI, Penha, SC, Brasil
| | | | - Luiz Daniel de Barros
- Laboratório de Parasitologia Veterinária e Doenças Parasitárias, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA, Lavras, MG, Brasil
| | - Mary Suzan Varaschin
- Laboratório de Patologia Veterinária, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA, Lavras, MG, Brasil
| | - Ivam Moreira de Oliveira Junior
- Laboratório de Patologia Veterinária, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Lavras - UFLA, Lavras, MG, Brasil
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Ferra BT, Chyb M, Sołowińska K, Holec-Gąsior L, Skwarecka M, Baranowicz K, Gatkowska J. The Development of Toxoplasma gondii Recombinant Trivalent Chimeric Proteins as an Alternative to Toxoplasma Lysate Antigen (TLA) in Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) for the Detection of Immunoglobulin G (IgG) in Small Ruminants. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:4384. [PMID: 38673969 PMCID: PMC11049947 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25084384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2024] [Revised: 04/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
This study presents an evaluation of seventeen newly produced recombinant trivalent chimeric proteins (containing the same immunodominant fragment of SAG1 and SAG2 of Toxoplasma gondii antigens, and an additional immunodominant fragment of one of the parasite antigens, such as AMA1, GRA1, GRA2, GRA5, GRA6, GRA7, GRA9, LDH2, MAG1, MIC1, MIC3, P35, and ROP1) as a potential alternative to the whole-cell tachyzoite lysate (TLA) used in the detection of infection in small ruminants. These recombinant proteins, obtained by genetic engineering and molecular biology methods, were tested for their reactivity with specific anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies contained in serum samples of small ruminants (192 samples of sheep serum and 95 samples of goat serum) using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The reactivity of six recombinant trivalent chimeric proteins (SAG1-SAG2-GRA5, SAG1-SAG2-GRA9, SAG1-SAG2-MIC1, SAG1-SAG2-MIC3, SAG1-SAG2-P35, and SAG1-SAG2-ROP1) with IgG antibodies generated during T. gondii invasion was comparable to the sensitivity of TLA-based IgG ELISA (100%). The obtained results show a strong correlation with the results obtained for TLA. This suggests that these protein preparations may be a potential alternative to TLA used in commercial tests and could be used to develop a cheaper test for the detection of parasite infection in small ruminants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bartłomiej Tomasz Ferra
- Department of Tropical Parasitology, Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia, Medical University of Gdańsk, Powstania Styczniowego 9B, 81-519 Gdynia, Poland;
| | - Maciej Chyb
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland; (M.C.); (J.G.)
- Bio-Med-Chem Doctoral School of the University of Lodz and Lodz Institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland
| | - Karolina Sołowińska
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Microbiology, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland; (K.S.); (L.H.-G.)
| | - Lucyna Holec-Gąsior
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Microbiology, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland; (K.S.); (L.H.-G.)
| | - Marta Skwarecka
- Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, Kampinoska 25, 80-180 Gdansk, Poland;
| | - Karolina Baranowicz
- Department of Tropical Parasitology, Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia, Medical University of Gdańsk, Powstania Styczniowego 9B, 81-519 Gdynia, Poland;
| | - Justyna Gatkowska
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Lodz, Poland; (M.C.); (J.G.)
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Murata R, Kodo Y, Maeno A, Suzuki J, Mori K, Sadamasu K, Kawahara F, Nagamune K. Detection of Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis sp. in the meat of common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata): A case of suspected food poisoning in Japan. Parasitol Int 2024; 99:102832. [PMID: 38040112 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2023.102832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
A case of suspected food poisoning related to the consumption of raw meat from a common minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) was reported in Tokyo, Japan, in June 2020. Microscopic analysis revealed tissue cysts of Toxoplasma gondii and sarcocysts of Sarcocystis sp. in whale meat. The SAG2 and ITS1 region sequences of T. gondii were detected in the DNA extracted from the meat. Genotyping of the multilocus nested PCR-RFLP using the genetic markers SAG1, SAG2 (5'- SAG2, 3'-SAG2, and alt. SAG2), SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico revealed that the genotype of T. gondii was type II, with a type I pattern for the L358 locus. In the phylogenetic analyses of the six loci (GRA6, GRA7, SAG1, HP2, UPRT1, and UPRT7), these sequences clustered into haplogroup 2. Moreover, the sequences of the virulence-related genes ROP5 and ROP18 of T. gondii isolated from whale meat were similar to those of the type II ME49 reference strain. Sequence analyses of the mtDNA cox1 gene, 18S rRNA gene, and ITS1 region indicated the highest similarity of sarcocyst isolated from whale meat to Sarcocystis species that infect birds or carnivores as intermediate hosts; however, the species could not be identified. To our knowledge, this is the first report of T. gondii and Sarcocystis spp. being detected in same whale meat ingested by patients involved in a suspected food poisoning case in Japan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rie Murata
- Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
| | - Yukihiro Kodo
- Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
| | - Ai Maeno
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
| | - Jun Suzuki
- Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan.
| | - Kohji Mori
- Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
| | - Kenji Sadamasu
- Department of Microbiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Public Health, Tokyo 169-0073, Japan
| | - Fumiya Kawahara
- Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
| | - Kisaburo Nagamune
- Department of Parasitology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
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Račka K, Bártová E, Hamidović A, Plault N, Kočišová A, Camacho G, Mercier A, Halajian A. First detection of Toxoplasma gondii Africa 4 lineage in a population of carnivores from South Africa. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2024; 14:1274577. [PMID: 38352059 PMCID: PMC10861644 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1274577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction There have only been a few molecular studies conducted on the detection of T. gondii in tissues of carnivores in South Africa, with no data on the genetic diversity of this parasite. That is why the aim of this study was to detect and genotype T. gondii DNA in tissues of selected wild and domestic carnivores in South Africa. Methods Samples were collected from 80 animals of 20 species (mainly road-killed) in the four provinces of Limpopo (n=57), Mpumalanga (n=21), Gauteng (n=1) and Free State (n=1) during the period 2014-2018. Samples of brain (n=31), heart (n=4), liver (n=40), spleen (n=2) and lung (n=3) were used to detect T. gondii by real-time PCR targeting a 529 bp repeating fragment of T. gondii DNA. Samples that were positive in real-time PCR were genotyped using 15 microsatellite markers. Results T. gondii DNA was detected in 4 (5 %) samples: in the brain from a Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas), in the liver from a African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica) and in the liver and heart of two Rusty-spotted Genets (Genetta maculata) respectively. The DNA sample from Black-backed Jackal was genotyped and characterized as belonging to the type Africa 4 lineage (equivalent to RFLP genotype ToxoDB#20), that is a widespread lineage in Africa. Discussion This is the first genetic characterization of T. gondii isolated from a wild carnivore on the African continent and the first report of T. gondii in Black-backed Jackal. The Africa 4 lineage was also confirmed in the region of Southern Africa for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karol Račka
- Department of Epizootology, Parasitology and Protection of One Health, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Košice, Slovakia
| | - Eva Bártová
- Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Brno, Czechia
| | - Azra Hamidović
- Inserm U1094, IRD U270, CHU Limoges, EpiMaCT - Epidémiologie des Maladies Chroniques en zone Tropicale, Institut d’Epidémiologie et de Neurologie Tropicale, OmegaHealth, University of Limoges, Limoges, France
| | - Nicolas Plault
- Inserm U1094, IRD U270, CHU Limoges, EpiMaCT - Epidémiologie des Maladies Chroniques en zone Tropicale, Institut d’Epidémiologie et de Neurologie Tropicale, OmegaHealth, University of Limoges, Limoges, France
| | - Alica Kočišová
- Department of Epizootology, Parasitology and Protection of One Health, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Košice, Slovakia
| | - Gerrie Camacho
- Department of Scientific Services, Mpumalanga Tourism & Parks Agency (MTPA), Nelspruit, South Africa
| | - Aurelién Mercier
- Inserm U1094, IRD U270, CHU Limoges, EpiMaCT - Epidémiologie des Maladies Chroniques en zone Tropicale, Institut d’Epidémiologie et de Neurologie Tropicale, OmegaHealth, University of Limoges, Limoges, France
| | - Ali Halajian
- Research Administration and Development, University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa
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Mishra V, Mitra P, Barbuddhe S, Thorat Y, Chavan K, Shinde S, Chaudhari S, Khan W, Deshmukh AS. Serological and molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum in free-ranging rats from Nagpur, India. Parasitol Res 2023; 123:63. [PMID: 38114841 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-023-08095-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are cyst-forming coccidian parasites that infect both wild and domestic non-felids as intermediate hosts, with rodents serving as important reservoir hosts during their life cycles. This study was aimed at investigating T. gondii and N. caninum infections and identifying factors favouring T. gondii infection in free-ranging rats from India. A total of 181 rodents were trap-captured, and blood and brain samples were subsequently collected for serological and molecular examination of T. gondii and N. caninum. Antibodies against T. gondii and N. caninum were detected by MAT/NAT and IFAT in 13.8% (25/181) and 1.65% (3/181) of rodents, respectively. All three N. caninum samples positive by NAT/IFAT were also positive for ELISA, while for T. gondii, 19 of 25 MAT/IFAT positive samples were also positive for ELISA. The antibody titers (MAT/NAT/IFAT) of rodents seropositive for T. gondii ranged from 25 to 400, while those of rats seropositive for N. caninum ranged from 25 to 100. Also, using PCR, DNA from T. gondii (B1 gene) and N. caninum (NC5 gene) was found in 2.76% (5/181) of brain samples and 0.55% (1/181) of brain samples. All PCR positive samples were also seropositive. No mixed infections were observed in the serological and molecular detections. A Chi-square analysis revealed that older rats and rats living in urban areas are significantly associated with T. gondii infection; however, rodent species, gender, location, habitat types, and seasonality were statistically nonsignificant. Overall, this study demonstrated that T. gondii was widely distributed while N. caninum was less prevalent among free-ranging rats in the studied area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veena Mishra
- Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, DBT-National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, 500032, Telangana, India
| | - Pallabi Mitra
- Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India
| | - Shruti Barbuddhe
- Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, India
| | - Yogesh Thorat
- Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, India
| | - Kailas Chavan
- Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, India
| | - Shilpshri Shinde
- Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, India
| | - Sandeep Chaudhari
- Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, India
| | - Waqar Khan
- Department of Veterinary Public Health & Epidemiology, Nagpur Veterinary College, Maharashtra Animal & Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur, India
| | - Abhijit S Deshmukh
- Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, DBT-National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, 500032, Telangana, India.
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Rahman SU, Akbar H, Shabbir MZ, Ullah U, Rashid MI. Newly optimized ELISA kit and LAT reveal significantly higher seroprevalence in sheep raised in agro-ecological zone as against range-ecological zone, with a significant association of meteorological parameters. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0290374. [PMID: 38051753 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic and foodborne intracellular parasite capable of inducing congenital infections, stillbirths and abortions in humans and animals, globally. The consumption of undercooked or raw mutton is "one of the vital risks" for acquiring toxoplasmosis: an asymptomatic condition in healthy persons, while life-threatening in immunodeficient individuals like "HIV/AIDS" patients. OBJECTIVES The current study has multiple objectives: to optimize a newly ELISA kit for Sheep, to find out the seroprevalence of ovine toxoplasmosis of two ecological zones of the Punjab, Pakistan through LAT and newly Optimized Sheep ELISA kit, to do the comparison of efficacies of various tests (LAT with newly Optimized ELISA kit and newly Optimized ELISA kit with commercial ELISA kit) and to determine the different meteorological parameters as the risk factors for T. gondii infection in sheep. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 sheep sera, 200 were collected from sheep raised on open grazing system by local farmers in the adjoining areas of Civil Veterinary Dispensaries (CVDs) of range-ecological zone i.e. tehsil Kot Chutta (Dera Ghazi khan). Similarly, the remaining 200 were collected from agro-ecological zone i.e. tehsil Sharaqpur (Sheikhupura), to evaluate the comparative efficacy of LAT with optimized ELISA kit and newly optimized ELISA kit with commercial ELISA kit. FINDINGS The newly ELISA kit optimized against a commercial ELISA kit was found to have 100% sensitivity, 97.6% specificity with 98% Positive Predictive Value, 100% Negative Predictive Value, Cut off value = 0.505, 28.28 LR+, 0.0104 LR-, and 2719.23 DOR. Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis was detected significantly (P < 0.01; χ2) higher in Sharaqpur (44.5% by LAT; 35.5% by ELISA) as compared to that in Kot Chutta (39.5% by LAT; 31% by ELISA). The highest seroprevalence was seen in the sheep of the 1-2 years age group (P < 0.01; χ2), whereas the lowest in the oldest animals (≥ 4 years). Investigation of meteorological data of both the regions reveals that the zone with higher seroprevalence has relatively higher rainfall, higher humidity, lower environmental temperatures, and higher altitude as the critical factors, potentially behind the significant difference seen in seroprevalence level. The partial correlation of both tests (newly optimized ELISA kit and LAT) was 0.991 at maximum temperature in Sharaqpur while it was 0.981 in Kot Chutta. INTERPRETATION A novel significant correlation was found between the meteorological parameters (relative humidity, minimum, maximum, and average temperatures) divided into yearly units of both the ecological zones, and year-wise seroprevalence (birth years of age-wise groups) of the corresponding regions. We hypothesize that such environmental conditions increase the risk of toxoplasmosis in grazing sheep, owing to a more favorable environment for coccidian oocyst survival. The ELISA kit optimized in this study will be helpful for the detection of seroprevalence of ovine toxoplasmosis in other ecological zones of Pakistan as well as of any other country in the world. More studies are recommended involving regions from other ecological zones of Pakistan to further explore the seroprevalence of ovine toxoplasmosis and to ratify the novel correlation of meteorological parameters with seroprevalence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarfraz Ur Rahman
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, Department of Parasitology, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Haroon Akbar
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, Department of Parasitology, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
| | | | - Ubaid Ullah
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, Department of Parasitology, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Imran Rashid
- Faculty of Veterinary Science, Department of Parasitology, Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
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López-Ureña NM, Calero-Bernal R, Vázquez-Calvo Á, Sánchez-Sánchez R, Ortega-Mora LM, Álvarez-García G. A comparative study of serological tests used in the diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection in small ruminants evidenced the importance of cross-reactions for harmonizing diagnostic performance. Res Vet Sci 2023; 165:105052. [PMID: 37864907 DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2023.105052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/23/2023]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a major foodborne zoonotic pathogen that can be transmitted through the consumption of raw or undercooked meat of small ruminants, among others. Serology has been suggested as an epidemiological indicator and several tests are available nowadays. However, there is no comparative study with the most used ones. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop and validate two in-house tests (Western blot -TgSALUVET WB- and ELISA -TgSALUVET ELISA 2.0-) and perform a comparative study including such tests and four commercial ELISA kits (IDScreen®, PrioCHECK®, Pigtype® and IDEXX). First, a specific pattern of recognition of immunodominant antigens by TgSALUVET WB was determined with serum panels of noninfected sheep and sheep infected with T. gondii or Neospora caninum. Next, TgSALUVET WB was used as a reference to preliminary validate TgSALUVET ELISA 2.0 using sera from sheep and goats naturally infected with T. gondii. Then, the abovementioned sheep serum panels were analyzed by all tests and subjected to TG-ROC analyses and agreement tests, and cross-reactivity with the anti-N. caninum IgGs was studied. All the techniques were accurate enough for the cutoff values initially suggested with all serum panels (Se and Sp ≥ 94%), except for PrioCHECK®, which showed 83% Sp. However, a cutoff readjustment improved their diagnostic performance. Additionally, cross-reactions between anti-N. caninum antibodies and T. gondii antigens were detected with all tests. Thus, a second cutoff readjustment was carried out and the use of both readjusted cutoff values is recommended to obtain comparable data and avoid false-positive results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia María López-Ureña
- SALUVET Research Group, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid 28040, Spain.
| | - Rafael Calero-Bernal
- SALUVET Research Group, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid 28040, Spain.
| | | | - Roberto Sánchez-Sánchez
- SALUVET Research Group, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid 28040, Spain.
| | - Luis Miguel Ortega-Mora
- SALUVET Research Group, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid 28040, Spain.
| | - Gema Álvarez-García
- SALUVET Research Group, Animal Health Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid 28040, Spain.
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Salas-Fajardo MY, Benavides J, Azevedo A, Figueiras P, Monteiro M, Orge L, Mendonça P, Carvalho P, Waap H, Ortega-Mora LM, Calero-Bernal R. Fatal toxoplasmosis in a captive squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis) in Portugal. Vet Res Commun 2023; 47:2363-2370. [PMID: 37474881 DOI: 10.1007/s11259-023-10179-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
New World monkeys are especially vulnerable to develop severe clinical manifestations and succumb to acute toxoplasmosis. This study aimed to describe the histopathological findings and genotypic characterization of the Toxoplasma gondii strain involved in a lethal case occurring in a zoo-housed black-capped squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis) in Portugal. Cyst-like structures suggestive of Sarcocystidae parasites and acute injuries in liver and brain were observed by light microscopy examination. By immunohistochemistry, calprotectin, T. gondii antigen and Iba1 antigen had a positive signaling in lung, liver and brain tissues. Toxoplasma gondii B1, ITS1 and 529 repetitive element fragments amplifications together with the genotyping of 13 microsatellite markers confirmed a systemic T. gondii infection linked to a non-clonal type II strain. This description is consistent to the majority T. gondii strains circulating in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martha Ynés Salas-Fajardo
- SALUVET, Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, 28040, Spain
| | - Julio Benavides
- Instituto de Ganadería de Montaña, (CSIC-ULE), Grulleros, León, 24346, Spain
| | - Alexandre Azevedo
- Zoo de Lagos, Lagos, 8600-013, Portugal
- CIVG - Vasco da Gama Research Center / Vasco da Gama University School, Coimbra, 3020-210, Portugal
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Animal Health (CIISA), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | | | - Madalena Monteiro
- Pathology Laboratory, UEISPSA, National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P, Oeiras, 2780- 157, Portugal
| | - Leonor Orge
- Pathology Laboratory, UEISPSA, National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P, Oeiras, 2780- 157, Portugal
- Animal and Veterinary Research Centre (CECAV), University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, 5000- 801, Portugal
| | - Paula Mendonça
- Pathology Laboratory, UEISPSA, National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P, Oeiras, 2780- 157, Portugal
| | - Paulo Carvalho
- Pathology Laboratory, UEISPSA, National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P, Oeiras, 2780- 157, Portugal
| | - Helga Waap
- Parasitology Laboratory, UEISPSA, National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research (INIAV), I.P, Oeiras, 2780- 157, Portugal
| | - Luis Miguel Ortega-Mora
- SALUVET, Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, 28040, Spain
| | - Rafael Calero-Bernal
- SALUVET, Department of Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, 28040, Spain.
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9
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Gao Y, Shen Y, Fan J, Ding H, Zheng B, Yu H, Huang S, Kong Q, Lv H, Zhuo X, Lu S. Establishment and application of an iELISA detection method for measuring apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) antibodies of Toxoplasma gondii in cats. BMC Vet Res 2023; 19:229. [PMID: 37924072 PMCID: PMC10623812 DOI: 10.1186/s12917-023-03775-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Diseases caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) have introduced serious threats to public health. There is an urgent need to develop a rapid detection method for T. gondii infection in cats, which are definitive hosts. Recombinant apical membrane antigen 1 (rAMA1) was produced in a prokaryotic expression system and used as the detection antigen. The aim of this study was to evaluate and optimize a reliable indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) method based on rAMA1 for the detection of antibodies against T. gondii in cats. RESULTS The rAMA1-iELISA method was developed and optimized by the chessboard titration method. There were no cross-reactions between T. gondii-positive cat serum and positive serum for other pathogens, indicating that rAMA1-iELISA could only detect T. gondii in most cases. The lowest detection limit of rAMA1-iELISA was 1:3200 (dilution of positive serum), and the CV of repeated tests within batches and between batches were confirmed to be less than 10%. The results of 247 cat serum samples detected by rAMA1-iELISA (kappa value = 0.622, p < 0.001) were in substantial agreement with commercial ELISA. The ROC curve analysis revealed the higher overall check accuracy of rAMA1-iELISA (sensitivity = 91.7%, specificity = 93.6%, AUC = 0.956, 95% CI 0.905 to 1.000) than GRA7-based iELISA (sensitivity = 91.7%, specificity = 85.5%, AUC = 0.936, 95% CI 0.892 to 0.980). Moreover, the positive rate of rAMA1-iELISA (6.5%, 16/247) was higher than that of GRA7-based iELISA (3.6%, 9/247) and that of commercial ELISA kit (4.9%, 12/247). CONCLUSION The iELISA method with good specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility was established and can be used for large-scale detection of T. gondii infection in clinical cat samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yafan Gao
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yu Shen
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiyuan Fan
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Haojie Ding
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Bin Zheng
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Haijie Yu
- Jiaxing Vocational & Technical College, Jiaxing, 314036, China
| | - Siyang Huang
- Institute of Comparative Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China
| | - Qingming Kong
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hangjun Lv
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xunhui Zhuo
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China.
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China.
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China.
| | - Shaohong Lu
- School of Basic Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, 310013, China.
- Engineering Research Center of Novel Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China.
- Key Laboratory of Bio-Tech Vaccine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, China.
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Feng Z, Ling H, Zhu Z, Pei Y, Sun Z, Wang X, Wang L, Liu Q, Liu J. Identification of specific antigens between Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum and application of potential diagnostic antigen TgGRA54. Parasitol Res 2023; 122:2557-2566. [PMID: 37670006 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-023-07955-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a zoonotic parasite that is very common in livestock. Meat products from livestock infected with T. gondii are one of the important transmission routes of toxoplasmosis. Rapid and reliable diagnosis is a prerequisite for the prevention and control of toxoplasmosis. Neospora caninum and T. gondii are similar in morphology and life history, and there are a large number of cross antigens between them, making clinical diagnosis of toxoplasmosis more difficult. In this study, immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry (IP-MS) was used to screen for T. gondii-specific antigens, and the specific antigen was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The specific antigen was then used to establish an indirect ELISA diagnostic method. A total of 241 specific antigens of T. gondii and 662 cross antigens between T. gondii and N. caninum were screened by IP-MS. Through bioinformatics analysis and homology comparison, seven proteins were selected for gene cloning and prokaryotic expression, and the most suitable antigen, TgGRA54, was selected to establish an indirect ELISA for T. gondii. Compared with the indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT), the positive coincidence rate of the ELISA based on rTgGRA54 was 100% (72/72) and the negative coincidence rate was 80.95% (17/21). The indirect ELISA method based on TgGRA54 recombinant protein was established to detect T. gondii antibodies in bovine sera, and the recombinant protein reacted well with T. gondii positive sera from sheep, mouse, and swine, indicating that the recombinant protein is a good diagnostic antigen for T. gondii.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zixuan Feng
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Huifang Ling
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Zifu Zhu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Yanqun Pei
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhepeng Sun
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Xianmei Wang
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Lifang Wang
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Qun Liu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
- National Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China
| | - Jing Liu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China.
- National Key Laboratory of Veterinary Public Health and Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, People's Republic of China.
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11
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Amairia S, Jbeli M, Mrabet S, Mahjoubi Jebabli L, Gharbi M. Molecular Prevalence of Sarcocystis spp. and Toxoplasma gondii in Slaughtered Equids in Northern Tunisia. J Equine Vet Sci 2023; 129:104894. [PMID: 37506984 DOI: 10.1016/j.jevs.2023.104894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 07/15/2023] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023]
Abstract
Sarcocystis spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are two apicomplexan protozoa that infect a broad range of vertebrates, however, little is known about the infection of equids with these parasites. A total of 184 slaughtered equids from slaughterhouses of Bizerte and Tunis located in Northern Tunisia, were examined for meat infections with Sarcocystis spp. and T. gondii by PCR. The prevalence of infections with Sarcocystis spp. and T. gondii were 38% (95% CI: 31-45) and 39.7% (95% CI: 32.6-46.7), respectively. The highest prevalence of infection with Sarcocystis spp. was observed in donkeys (48.6%; 95% CI: 37.3-60) followed by mules (32.8%; 95%CI: 21.3-44.3), and horses (28.3%; 95% CI: 15.2-41.2) (P = .04). Similarly, the highest prevalence of infection with T. gondii was also observed in donkeys (66.2%; 95% CI: 55.4-77), followed by mules (18.7%; 95%CI: 9.2-28.3), and horses (26.1%; 95%CI: 13.4-38.8) (P < .001). The coinfection prevalence was estimated to be 17.4% (95%CI: 11.9-22.9). Taking into consideration that humans can be infected following consumption of infected equid meat with T. gondii and/or some Sarcocystis species, it is important to assess the risk of human infection. Thus, further studies are needed to better understand the epidemiology of these zoonoses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Safa Amairia
- Laboratoire de Parasitologie, University of Manouba, Institution de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire de Sidi Thabet, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia.
| | - Mounir Jbeli
- Health and Veterinary Control Division, Ministry of Defense, Ksar Saïd Military Base, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Slim Mrabet
- Department of Hygiene, Municipality of Bizerte, Bizerte, Tunisia
| | - Leila Mahjoubi Jebabli
- Tunis Abattoir, Health, Hygiene and Environment Service, Ministry of Interior, Montfleury, Tunisia
| | - Mohamed Gharbi
- Laboratoire de Parasitologie, University of Manouba, Institution de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement Supérieur Agricoles, École Nationale de Médecine Vétérinaire de Sidi Thabet, Sidi Thabet, Tunisia
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12
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Chen A, Boulay M, Chong S, Ho K, Chan A, Ong J, Fernandez CJ, Chang SF, Yap HH. Suspected clinical toxoplasmosis in a 12-week-old puppy in Singapore. BMC Vet Res 2023; 19:110. [PMID: 37542292 PMCID: PMC10401807 DOI: 10.1186/s12917-023-03674-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 08/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Toxoplasma gondii is traditionally known as a parasite of felids, with possible infection in intermediate hosts such as dogs and humans, and thus a disease of public health significance. Published data on the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in dogs and cats in Singapore is scanty, and this paper documents a suspect clinical case of toxoplasmosis in a free-roaming puppy trapped from an offshore island of Singapore. CASE PRESENTATION A 12-week-old puppy presented with hindlimb weakness and sarcopenia, with rapidly progressing ascending paralysis and respiratory distress, one week after trapping. Toxoplasmosis was suspected after indirect fluorescence antibody testing (IFAT) revealed anti-T. gondii antibodies. The puppy responded quickly to clindamycin treatment and was discharged from hospital after 10 days. CONCLUSION While rare and undocumented, veterinary clinicians in Singapore are advised to also include toxoplasmosis infection as a differential diagnosis in dogs presenting with similar clinical signs. This is especially so for dogs which have access to the outdoors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audrey Chen
- Centre for Animal Rehabilitation, Animal & Veterinary Service, Animal Management Centre, National Parks Board, 57 Sungei Tengah Road, 699013, Singapore, Singapore.
| | - Max Boulay
- Westside Emergency, 41 Eng Kong Terrace, 599013, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Stacy Chong
- Centre for Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Animal & Plant Health Centre, Animal & Veterinary Service, National Parks Board, 6 Perahu Road, 718827, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Kelvin Ho
- Biorisk and Biosurveillance, Animal & Veterinary Service, National Parks Board, JEM Office Tower, 52 Jurong Gateway Road, 608550, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Amy Chan
- Centre for Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Animal & Plant Health Centre, Animal & Veterinary Service, National Parks Board, 6 Perahu Road, 718827, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jasmine Ong
- Centre for Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Animal & Plant Health Centre, Animal & Veterinary Service, National Parks Board, 6 Perahu Road, 718827, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Charlene Judith Fernandez
- Centre for Animal & Veterinary Sciences, Animal & Plant Health Centre, Animal & Veterinary Service, National Parks Board, 6 Perahu Road, 718827, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Siow Foong Chang
- Professional & Scientific Services, Animal & Veterinary Service, National Parks Board, JEM Office Tower, 52 Jurong Gateway Road, 608550, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Him Hoo Yap
- Animal & Veterinary Service, National Parks Board, Singapore Botanic Gardens, 1 Cluny Road, 259569, Singapore, Singapore
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13
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Strules J, Dawant T, Riese K, Gerhold R, Brown J, Olfenbuttel C, DePerno CS, Hunt BJ, von Dohlen AR. USE OF A POINT OF CARE TEST TO DETERMINE THE PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES TO TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN BLACK BEARS FROM NORTH CAROLINA AND PENNSYLVANIA. J Parasitol 2023; 109:221-224. [PMID: 37327396 DOI: 10.1645/22-72] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an important protozoan parasite of humans and animals throughout the world. Black bears are among the animals with the highest seroprevalence of T. gondii in the United States. A rapid point of care (POC) test is commercially available to detect antibodies to T. gondii in humans. We evaluated the utility of the POC test to detect anti-T. gondii antibodies in 100 wild black bears from North Carolina (n = 50) and Pennsylvania (n = 50). In a blind study, sera were tested by the POC test, and results were compared to the modified agglutination test (MAT). Overall, anti-T. gondii antibodies were detected in 76% (76/100) black bears by both MAT and POC tests. One false positive and one false negative result in the POC test were obtained in bears from Pennsylvania. The sensitivity and specificity of the POC test were both 99% when compared to the MAT. Results from our study indicate the POC test could be a useful screening tool for serological surveillance of T. gondii in black bears.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Strules
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606
| | - Tania Dawant
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
| | - Katie Riese
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
| | - Richard Gerhold
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
| | - Justin Brown
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
| | | | - Christopher S DePerno
- Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606
| | - Brian J Hunt
- Department of Computer Sciences, Engineering and Mathematics, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina 28216
| | - Alexa Rosypal von Dohlen
- Department of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, North Carolina 28216
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Fisk EA, Cassirer EF, Huggler KS, Pessier AP, White LA, Ramsay JD, Goldsmith EW, Drankhan HR, Wolking RM, Manlove KR, Nordeen T, Hogg JT, Taylor KR. ABORTION AND NEONATAL MORTALITY DUE TO TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN BIGHORN SHEEP (OVIS CANADENSIS). J Wildl Dis 2023; 59:37-48. [PMID: 36648765 DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-22-00057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Low lamb recruitment can be an obstacle to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) conservation and restoration. Causes of abortion and neonate loss in bighorn sheep, which may affect recruitment, are poorly understood. Toxoplasma gondii is a major cause of abortion and stillbirth in domestic small ruminants worldwide, but no reports exist documenting abortion or neonatal death in bighorn sheep attributable to toxoplasmosis. Between March 2019 and May 2021, eight fetal and neonatal bighorn lamb cadavers from four western US states (Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, and Washington) were submitted to the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for postmortem examination, histologic examination, and ancillary testing to determine the cause of abortion or neonatal death. Necrotizing encephalitis characteristic of toxoplasmosis was identified histologically in six of eight cases, and T. gondii infection was confirmed by PCR in five cases with characteristic lesions. Other lesions attributable to toxoplasmosis were pneumonia (3/5 cases) and myocarditis (2/5 cases). Protozoal cysts were identified histologically within brain, lung, heart, skeletal muscle, adipose tissue, or a combination of samples in all five sheep with PCR-confirmed T. gondii infections. Seroprevalence of T. gondii ranged from 40-81% of adult females sampled in the Washington population in October and November 2018-2021, confirming high rates of exposure before detection of Toxoplasma abortions in this study. Of 1,149 bighorn sheep postmortem samples submitted to Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory between January 2000 and May 2021, 21 of which were from fetuses or neonates, a single case of chronic toxoplasmosis was diagnosed in one adult ewe. Recent identification of Toxoplasma abortions in bighorn sheep suggests that toxoplasmosis is an underappreciated cause of reproductive loss. Abortions and neonatal mortalities should be investigated through postmortem and histologic examination, particularly in herds that are chronically small, demographically stagnant, or exhibit reproductive rates lower than expected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elis A Fisk
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
| | - E Frances Cassirer
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 3316 16th St., Lewiston, Idaho 83501, USA
| | - Katey S Huggler
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Dr., Moscow, Idaho 83844, USA
| | - Allan P Pessier
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
| | - Laura A White
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
| | - Joshua D Ramsay
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
| | - Elizabeth W Goldsmith
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
| | - Holly R Drankhan
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
| | - Rebecca M Wolking
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
| | - Kezia R Manlove
- Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5230 Old Main Hill, NR 206, Logan, Utah 84322, USA
| | - Todd Nordeen
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, 2200 N 33rd St., PO Box 30370, Lincoln, Nebraska 68503, USA
| | - John T Hogg
- Montana Conservation Science Institute Ltd., 5200 Miller Creek Rd., Missoula, Montana 59803, USA
| | - Kyle R Taylor
- Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, 1940 SE Olympia Ave., Pullman, Washington 99164-7034, USA
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 647040, Pullman, Washington 99164-7040, USA
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15
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Engel L, Hamedy A, Koethe M. Direct detection and quantification of Toxoplasma gondii in meat samples from feral raccoons (Procyon lotor) in Germany by magnetic-capture real-time PCR. Parasitol Res 2023; 122:307-313. [PMID: 36401669 PMCID: PMC9816176 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-022-07730-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Because the number of wild raccoons in Germany is increasing constantly, it appears to be economic reasonable to use their meat as food. For this purpose, it is essential to generate data regarding the pathogen load of the meat to be consumed and handled. It is known that raccoons, particularly in Germany, show a high seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii. Because serological data only indicates contact of a host to a parasite additional direct detection is needed to prove presence of parasitic stages in particular tissues. Therefore, a total of 150 samples from raccoons with known serostatus were tested and quantified using magnetic-capture real-time PCR for Toxoplasma gondii. As it represents potentially consumption-relevant parts of raccoons, meat from forelimb and hindlimb was examined. Samples were stratified into three groups based on the animals' serostatus (each 50 negative, low positive, and high positive). All samples from seronegative animals were found negative by MC-PCR as well. In a total of 56 meat samples from 100 seropositive animals, T. gondii DNA was detected. Statistically significant more samples were positive by MC-PCR in the high positive than in the low positive serostatus group (38/50 vs. 18/50, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, samples from the former group were also found to have statistically significant higher DNA equivalent values compared to samples from the low positive serostatus group (p < 0.0001). These results suggest that meat from seropositive raccoons may contain considerable numbers of T. gondii presenting a potential public health risk for humans whilst handling and consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Engel
- Institute of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, An den Tierkliniken 1, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Ahmad Hamedy
- Institute of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, An den Tierkliniken 1, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Koethe
- Institute of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Leipzig University, An den Tierkliniken 1, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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Cañón-Franco WA, López-Orozco N, Quiroz-Bucheli A, Kwok OCH, Dubey JP, Sepúlveda-Arias JC. First serological and molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) used for human consumption in Nariño, Colombia, South America. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports 2022; 36:100801. [PMID: 36436890 DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2022.100801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Consumption of undercooked meat is one of the main transmission routes for Toxoplasma gondii worldwide. In the South American Andes, the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus) is a domestic rodent representing one of the main sources of animal proteins for indigenous communities. Although T. gondii infects a wide range of rodents worldwide, the natural impact of the infection on guinea pig populations is still unknown. Our study conducted in guinea pigs that were bred in traditional systems located in the village of José María Hernández (Nariño, Colombia) revealed the presence of T. gondii antibodies in 33.3% (23 out of 69) guinea pigs evaluated, with a cut-off point of 25 for the modified direct agglutination test. Conventional PCR detection of the T. gondii-specific RE fragment (529 bp) in 207 collected tissues demonstrated the presence of T. gondii DNA in several organs, including the brain (16/69), muscle (12/69), and heart (4/69), with an overall molecular detection frequency of 27.5% (19 out of 69 guinea pigs). This is the first report of natural infection of guinea pigs with T. gondii, demonstrating their potential epidemiological role in transmitting the infection to autochthonous populations.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Natalia López-Orozco
- Grupo Infección e Inmunidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia
| | - Adriana Quiroz-Bucheli
- Unidad Municipal de Asistencia Técnica Agropecuaria, Alcaldía de Pupiales, Pupiales, Nariño, Colombia
| | - Oliver C H Kwok
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA
| | - Jitender P Dubey
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Building 1001, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA
| | - Juan C Sepúlveda-Arias
- Grupo Infección e Inmunidad, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia..
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17
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Ode S, Jarikre T, Jubril AJ, Ularamu H, Luka P, Adamu M, Emikpe B. High prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Nigerian wild rats by molecular detection. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports 2022; 35:100776. [PMID: 36184107 DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2022.100776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2022] [Revised: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Toxoplasmosis has been reported in Nigeria using several diagnostic tools with high prevalence in humans and some food animals. Rodents have been recognised as vital intermediate hosts of Toxoplasma gondii. However, there is paucity of information on the occurrence of T. gondii in wild rats found in Nigeria. This study aimed at molecular detection of T. gondii in Zyzomys pedunculatus and to evaluate its involvement in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in Nigeria. A total of 84 rats were sampled across three states of the North Central Nigeria, and DNA was extracted from the brain, lungs, kidney and intestine of the rats for the detection of T. gondii DNA by nested PCR to amplify the multicopy B1 gene. Sixty-four of the 84 samples (76.2%) were positive for T. gondii out of which 5 samples were sequenced and had an identity score of between 97.73% and 99.35% with the reference B1 gene of T. gondii in GenBank. This study suggests Nigerian wild rats may be an important intermediate hosts of T. gondii and may play a role in the epidemiology and maintenance of T. gondii circulation in Nigeria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel Ode
- Department of Veterinary Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, P.M.B. 2373, Makurdi, Nigeria.
| | - Theophilus Jarikre
- Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
| | - Afusat Jagun Jubril
- Department of Veterinary Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
| | - Hussaini Ularamu
- National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria
| | - Pam Luka
- National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State, Nigeria
| | - Mathew Adamu
- Department of Veterinary Parasitology and Entomology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Agriculture, P.M.B. 2373, Makurdi, Nigeria
| | - Benjamin Emikpe
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
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18
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Espindola BD, Fernandes FD, Roman IJ, Samoel GVA, Barcelos RAD, Döhler AR, Botton SDÁ, Vogel FSF, Sangioni LA. Detection of Sarcocystis spp. and Toxoplasma gondii in swine and detection of DNA of these protozoa in tissues and sausages. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 2022; 31:e009322. [PMID: 36074435 DOI: 10.1590/s1984-29612022049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2022] [Accepted: 08/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The seroprevalence of Sarcocystis spp. and Toxoplasma gondii was researched in swine raised in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. Serum samples from 84 pigs from 31 farms were tested using indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) for both agents. Additionally, 53 samples of pork sausages and tissues destined for human consumption, including: salami, sausage, black pudding, heart, tongue, brain, and rib muscle, were submitted to PCR to detect DNA for each agent. The frequency of anti-Sarcocystis spp. antibodies was 36.9% (31/84), with titers ranging from 32 to 1024, and 25% (21/84) for anti-T. gondii antibodies, with titers ranging from 64 to 2048. Sarcocystis spp. and T. gondii DNA were detected in 67.9% (36/53) and 13.2% (7/53) of samples, respectively. The presence of antibodies and the detection of DNA from Sarcocystis spp., and T. gondii suggests that the pigs were infected and may serve as an important reservoir for both parasites. The infection by these protozoa in the swine population is relevant to public health due to their zoonotic potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruna Dias Espindola
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Fagner D'ambroso Fernandes
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Isac Junior Roman
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Gisele Vaz Aguirre Samoel
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Roberto Antônio Delgado Barcelos
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Alisson Rodrigues Döhler
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Sônia de Ávila Botton
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Fernanda Silveira Flores Vogel
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
| | - Luis Antonio Sangioni
- Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias - LADOPAR, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva - DMVP, Centro de Ciências Rurais - CCR, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM, Santa Maria, RS, Brasil
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19
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Ahmadpour E, Rahimi MT, Ghojoghi A, Rezaei F, Hatam-Nahavandi K, Oliveira SMR, de Lourdes Pereira M, Majidiani H, Siyadatpanah A, Elhamirad S, Cong W, Pagheh AS. Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Marine Animal Species, as a Potential Source of Food Contamination: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Acta Parasitol 2022; 67:592-605. [PMID: 35038109 PMCID: PMC8761968 DOI: 10.1007/s11686-021-00507-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE Many marine animals are infected and susceptible to toxoplasmosis, which is considered as a potential transmission source of Toxoplasma gondii to other hosts, especially humans. The current systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the prevalence of T. gondii infection among sea animal species worldwide and highlight the existing gaps. METHODS Data collection was systematically done through searching databases, including PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science from 1997 to July 2020. RESULTS Our search strategy resulted in the retrieval of 55 eligible studies reporting the prevalence of marine T. gondii infection. The highest prevalence belonged to mustelids (sea otter) with 54.8% (95% CI 34.21-74.57) and cetaceans (whale, dolphin, and porpoise) with 30.92% (95% CI 17.85-45.76). The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with 41 records and indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) with 30 records were the most applied diagnostic techniques for T. gondii detection in marine species. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicated the geographic distribution and spectrum of infected marine species with T. gondii in different parts of the world. The spread of T. gondii among marine animals can affect the health of humans and other animals; in addition, it is possible that marine mammals act as sentinels of environmental contamination, especially the parasites by consuming water or prey species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehsan Ahmadpour
- Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
- Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
| | | | - Altin Ghojoghi
- Department of Fisheries, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgān, Iran
| | | | | | - Sónia M R Oliveira
- CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
- Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Maria de Lourdes Pereira
- CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Hamidreza Majidiani
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Samira Elhamirad
- Infectious Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 9717853577, Birjand, Iran
| | - Wei Cong
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, China
| | - Abdol Sattar Pagheh
- Infectious Diseases Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, PO Box 9717853577, Birjand, Iran.
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20
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Mancusi A, Giordano A, Bosco A, Girardi S, Proroga YTR, Morena L, Pinto R, Sarnelli P, Cringoli G, Rinaldi L, Capuano F, Maurelli MP. Development of a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction tool for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii in meat samples. Parasitol Res 2022; 121:1467-1473. [PMID: 35230549 PMCID: PMC8993784 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-022-07477-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Infection in humans has usually been related to the consumption of raw, undercooked or cured meat. The aim of this study was to develop a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR)-based assay for the detection and quantification of T. gondii in meat samples. To optimize the ddPCR, T.gondii reference DNA aliquots at five known concentrations: 8000 cg/µl, 800 cg/µl, 80 cg/µl, 8 cg/µl were used. Moreover, results obtained by ddPCR and quantitative PCR (qPCR) were compared using 80 known samples (40 positive and 40 negative), as well as 171 unknown diaphragm tissue samples collected at slaughterhouses. The ddPCR showed a sensitivity of 97.5% and a specificity of 100%, with a detection limit of 8 genomic copy/µl of T. gondii. A nearly perfect agreement (κ = 0.85) was found between results obtained by ddPCR and qPCR for both positive and negative known samples analysed. On the 171 diaphragm tissue samples from field, 7.6% resulted positive by ddPCR and only 1.2% by qPCR. Therefore, this innovative method could be very useful for the detection of T. gondii in meat samples, aiming to prevent human infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Mancusi
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, NA), Italy
| | - Angela Giordano
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, NA), Italy
| | - Antonio Bosco
- Unit of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, CREMOPAR, Naples, Italy
| | - Santa Girardi
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, NA), Italy
| | | | - Luigi Morena
- Centro Di Riferimento Regionale Sanità Animale (CReSan), Salerno, Italy
| | - Renato Pinto
- UOD Prevenzione E Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria Regione Campania, Naples, Italy
| | - Paolo Sarnelli
- UOD Prevenzione E Sanità Pubblica Veterinaria Regione Campania, Naples, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Cringoli
- Unit of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, CREMOPAR, Naples, Italy
- Centro Di Riferimento Regionale Sanità Animale (CReSan), Salerno, Italy
| | - Laura Rinaldi
- Unit of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, CREMOPAR, Naples, Italy
- Centro Di Riferimento Regionale Sanità Animale (CReSan), Salerno, Italy
| | - Federico Capuano
- Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno, Portici, NA), Italy
| | - Maria Paola Maurelli
- Unit of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production, University of Naples Federico II, CREMOPAR, Naples, Italy.
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21
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Liu Q, Zhang MY, Zhao B, Chen Y, Jiang W, Geng XL, Wang Q. Diagnostic Value of Circulating Antigens in the Serum of Piglets with Experimental Acute Toxoplasmosis. J Immunol 2022; 208:697-706. [PMID: 35022274 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2100640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, an apicomplexan parasite, infects all warm-blooded animals, including a third of the human population. Laboratory diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis is based on the detection of anti-T. gondii IgM and IgG and T. gondii nucleic acid; however, these assays have certain limitations. Circulating Ags (CAgs) are reliable diagnostic indicators of acute infection. In this study, we established a model of acute T. gondii infection in Large White pigs. CAg levels peaked between 3 and 5 d after inoculation, and 28 CAgs were identified using an immunoprecipitation-shotgun approach, among which dolichol-phosphate-mannose synthase family protein (TgDPM), C3HC zinc finger-like protein (TgZFLP3), and ribosomal protein RPL7 (TgRPL7) were selected to further investigate their value in the diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis. Immunofluorescence assays revealed that TgDPM and TgRPL7 were localized in the membrane surface, while TgZFLP3 was localized in the apical end. Western blotting revealed the presence of the three proteins in the serum during acute infection. Indirect ELISA results indicate that TgZFLP3 is likely to be a novel candidate for the diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis. However, these three proteins may not be useful as candidate vaccines against toxoplasmosis owing to their low protective ability. In addition, deletion of the zflp3 gene partially attenuated virulence in Kunming mice. Collectively, we identified 28 CAgs in the serum of piglets with experimental acute toxoplasmosis and confirmed that TgZFLP3 is a potential biomarker for acute T. gondii infection. The results of this study provide data to improve the detection efficiency of acute toxoplasmosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Liu
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Man-Yu Zhang
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Bing Zhao
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Yun Chen
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei Jiang
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiao-Ling Geng
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China
| | - Quan Wang
- Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, Shanghai, China
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22
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Dorsch MA, Cesar D, Bullock HA, Uzal FA, Ritter JM, Giannitti F. Fatal Toxoplasma gondii myocarditis in an urban pet dog. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports 2022; 27:100659. [PMID: 35012716 DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2021.100659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
A 70-day-old Boxer dog from a household in Montevideo, Uruguay, died after presenting neurologic, respiratory, and gastrointestinal signs for 6 days. Autopsy findings included lymphadenomegaly, ascites and hepatomegaly. Histopathology revealed severe widespread lymphohistiocytic and plasmacytic myocarditis with cardiomyocyte necrosis, mineralization and numerous intrasarcoplasmic protozoa immunoreactive with anti-Toxoplasma gondii antisera on immunohistochemistry. The protozoa were ultrastructurally confirmed as T. gondii by transmission electron microscopy. Other lesions included diffuse centrilobular hepatocellular necrosis, multifocal lymphohistiocytic portal hepatitis and interstitial nephritis. Other causes of myocarditis, including Neospora caninum, Trypanosoma cruzi, Sarcocystis neurona, canine distemper virus, and canine parvovirus were ruled out by immunohistochemistry. Toxoplasma gondii infections in dogs are usually subclinical; however, clinical disease with fatal outcome can occur. To our knowledge, this is the first report of fatal toxoplasmosis in a dog in Uruguay. This case raises awareness for dogs as sentinels and possible sources of human toxoplasmosis in urban settings in Uruguay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matías A Dorsch
- Plataforma de Investigación en Salud Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA), Estación Experimental La Estanzuela, Ruta 50 km 11, La Estanzuela 70000, Colonia, Uruguay
| | | | | | - Francisco A Uzal
- California Animal Health and Food Safety (CAHFS) Laboratory, University of California Davis, San Bernardino, CA, USA
| | - Jana M Ritter
- Infectious Diseases Pathology Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Federico Giannitti
- Plataforma de Investigación en Salud Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA), Estación Experimental La Estanzuela, Ruta 50 km 11, La Estanzuela 70000, Colonia, Uruguay.
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23
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Miura AC, Barros LDD, Minutti AF, Martins TA, Sasse JP, Nino BDSL, Garcia JL. Evaluation of quantitative polymerase chain reaction for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts shed by cats. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 2021; 30:e016621. [PMID: 34878069 DOI: 10.1590/s1984-29612021091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Felines are definitive hosts of Toxoplasma gondii and can shed oocysts in their feces, contaminating the environment. Sporulated oocysts are highly resistant to the environment and have higher infectivity, which are attributed to many toxoplasmosis outbreaks. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technique for the detection of T. gondii oocysts shed by cats. Twelve cats from a previous vaccine experiment were challenged orally with 600 cysts of the TgDoveBr8 strain on day 72. Fecal samples were collected daily using the centrifugal flotation technique, with microscopic examination (Sheather technique) and qPCR for 20 days after the challenge. Cats from all groups shed oocysts in their feces. Five negative cats in the Sheather were positive according to qPCR on the 3rd day post-inoculation (dpi). Oocysts were detected on the 4th dpi using the Sheather; however, there was no statistical difference between the two methods (p=0.1116). In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in oocyst shedding between the groups according to the Sheather technique (p=0.6534) and qPCR (p=0.9670). In conclusion, these results demonstrate that qPCR can be used as an alternative to the Sheather to detect and quantify T. gondii oocysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Carolina Miura
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
| | - Luiz Daniel de Barros
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
| | - Ana Flávia Minutti
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
| | - Thais Agostinho Martins
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
| | - João Pedro Sasse
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
| | - Beatriz de Souza Lima Nino
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
| | - João Luis Garcia
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
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24
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Minutti AF, Gonçalves Vieira FE, Sasse JP, Martins TA, de Seixas M, Tosi Cardim S, de Barros LD, Garcia JL. Comparison of serological and molecular techniques to detect Toxoplasma gondii in free-range chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Vet Parasitol 2021; 296:109515. [PMID: 34242913 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2021.109515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2021] [Revised: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The present study aimed to compare different indirect and direct diagnostic techniques to diagnose Toxoplasma gondii in free-range chickens. Samples of 386 chickens obtained from 24 Paraná properties were used for serological analysis by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), modified agglutination test (MAT), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Animals positive by IFAT and/or MAT had their tissues submitted to the mouse bioassay, and those who were positive in this technique had their blood, tissues, and acidic pepsin tissue digestion submitted to PCR (conventional, nested, and quantitative-PCR (qPCR)). One hundred and nineteen chickens (30.8 %) were positive in at least one of the serological tests, being 102 (26.4 %) in the IFAT, 64 (16.6 %) in the MAT, and 62 (16.0 %) in the ELISA. The IFAT was used as a gold standard, and the MAT showed higher sensitivity (46.0 %) and specificity (94.0) compared to ELISA (43.5 % and 93.6 %, respectively). Ninety samples of eighteen chickens positive in the mouse bioassay were subjected to PCR, and according to molecular tests, the conventional PCR detected the T. gondii DNA in 30 % (27/90) of the samples, in 38.8 % (35/90) with nested-PCR and 40.0 % (36/90) with real-time. According to molecular analyzes, the sensitivity was higher in ITS1 nested-PCR (69.4 %) and specificity in conventional PCR-529bp (90.7 %), using the qPCR as the gold standard. MAT and ELISA had similarities in concordance analyzes. The IFAT was the serological technique with the highest agreement with the mouse bioassay, and serological tests in parallel showed to be a good screening option for the isolation of T. gondii in chick tissues. The PCR markers effectively detected the parasite DNA, and the heart was the tissue with the highest number of positives samples. The conventional PCR had sensitivity similar to nested-PCR and qPCR and could be a cheaper alternative to diagnose T. gondii infection in chicken tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Flávia Minutti
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Animal Protozoology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445 km 380, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil
| | | | - João Pedro Sasse
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Animal Protozoology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445 km 380, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil
| | - Thais Agostinho Martins
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Animal Protozoology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445 km 380, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil
| | - Mércia de Seixas
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Animal Protozoology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445 km 380, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil
| | - Sérgio Tosi Cardim
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Norte do Paraná - UNOPAR, Arapongas, PR, Brazil
| | - Luiz Daniel de Barros
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Animal Protozoology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445 km 380, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil.
| | - João Luis Garcia
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Laboratory of Animal Protozoology, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Rodovia Celso Garcia Cid, PR 445 km 380, 86057-970, Londrina, PR, Brazil
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25
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Gering E, Laubach ZM, Weber PSD, Soboll Hussey G, Lehmann KDS, Montgomery TM, Turner JW, Perng W, Pioon MO, Holekamp KE, Getty T. Toxoplasma gondii infections are associated with costly boldness toward felids in a wild host. Nat Commun 2021; 12:3842. [PMID: 34158487 PMCID: PMC8219747 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24092-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is hypothesized to manipulate the behavior of warm-blooded hosts to promote trophic transmission into the parasite's definitive feline hosts. A key prediction of this hypothesis is that T. gondii infections of non-feline hosts are associated with costly behavior toward T. gondii's definitive hosts; however, this effect has not been documented in any of the parasite's diverse wild hosts during naturally occurring interactions with felines. Here, three decades of field observations reveal that T. gondii-infected hyena cubs approach lions more closely than uninfected peers and have higher rates of lion mortality. We discuss these results in light of 1) the possibility that hyena boldness represents an extended phenotype of the parasite, and 2) alternative scenarios in which T. gondii has not undergone selection to manipulate behavior in host hyenas. Both cases remain plausible and have important ramifications for T. gondii's impacts on host behavior and fitness in the wild.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eben Gering
- Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Nova Southeastern University, Department of Biological Sciences, Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
| | - Zachary M Laubach
- Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, East Lansing, MI, USA.
- University of Colorado Boulder, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Boulder, CO, USA.
- Mara Hyena Project, Narok County, Kenya.
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
| | - Patty Sue D Weber
- Michigan State University, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Gisela Soboll Hussey
- Michigan State University, Department of Pathobiology and Diagnostic Investigation, College of Veterinary Medicine, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Kenna D S Lehmann
- Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Mara Hyena Project, Narok County, Kenya
| | - Tracy M Montgomery
- Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Mara Hyena Project, Narok County, Kenya
- Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Julie W Turner
- Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Mara Hyena Project, Narok County, Kenya
- Memorial University of Newfoundland, Department of Biology, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Wei Perng
- LEAD Center & University of Colorado, School of Public Health, Aurora, CO, United States
| | | | - Kay E Holekamp
- Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Mara Hyena Project, Narok County, Kenya
| | - Thomas Getty
- Michigan State University, Department of Integrative Biology and Program in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, East Lansing, MI, USA
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Rezende HHA, Igreja JASLD, Gomes-Júnior AR, Melo JDO, Garcia JL, Martins FDC, Storchilo HR, Gomes TC, Vinaud MC, Castro AMD. Molecular characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates from free-range chickens reveals new genotypes in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 2021; 30:e000321. [PMID: 34076043 DOI: 10.1590/s1984-29612021029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the genotypic characteristics of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from free-range chickens in the metropolitan area of Goiânia, Goiás, in Brazil's central-west region. The seroprevalence rate was found to be 96%, according to an indirect hemagglutination assay. Brain and heart samples were processed by peptic digestion for a mice bioassay. The tissues were homogenized and the resulting samples were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which revealed that 64% of them contained the parasite's DNA. The mice bioassay revealed 15 isolates, 8 of them tachyzoites isolates from the peritoneal lavage and 7 from brain cysts. T. gondii genotypes were determined through PCR-RFLP, using the following markers: SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, alt. SAG2, Apico and CS3. Three genotypes were identified, inclued ToxoDB #65, and the other two are not yet described in the literature. Hence, we conclude that the isolates obtained from the metropolitan area of Goiânia showed relatively low genetic diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanstter Hallison Alves Rezende
- Laboratório de Bioquímica Clínica e Líquidos Corporais, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Jataí - UFJ, Jataí, GO, Brasil
| | - Jaqueline Ataíde Silva Lima da Igreja
- Laboratório de Estudos da Relação Parasito-Hospedeiro, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Antônio Roberto Gomes-Júnior
- Laboratório de Estudos da Relação Parasito-Hospedeiro, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Jade de Oliveira Melo
- Laboratório de Estudos da Relação Parasito-Hospedeiro, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - João Luís Garcia
- Laboratório de Protozoologia Veterinária, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil
| | | | - Heloísa Ribeiro Storchilo
- Laboratório de Estudos da Relação Parasito-Hospedeiro, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Taynara Cristina Gomes
- Laboratório de Estudos da Relação Parasito-Hospedeiro, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Marina Clare Vinaud
- Laboratório de Estudos da Relação Parasito-Hospedeiro, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Ana Maria de Castro
- Laboratório de Estudos da Relação Parasito-Hospedeiro, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
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Gomes DFC, Mendes LA, Dias JM, Ribeiro-Andrade M, Oliveira PRFD, Mota RA, Arnhold E, Fioravanti MCS, Oliveira CHSD. Seroprevalence, spatial distribution and risk factors associated with Toxoplasma gondii infection among cattle in a quilombola community in the Brazilian cerrado. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 2021; 30:e018720. [PMID: 33729314 DOI: 10.1590/s1984-296120201080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Little is known about Toxoplasma gondii infection among cattle living in the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) biome in Brazil. In particular, there is no epidemiological data relating to infection in quilombo lands, i.e. areas settled by Afro-descendants of escaped slaves. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, spatial distribution and risk factors associated with T. gondii infection among cattle in the Kalunga quilombo, in the Cerrado biome. Blood samples were collected from 1533 cattle for antibody detection using the indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT). The study area was subdivided into five macroregions to determine the spatial distribution of infection. An objective questionnaire was applied to the cattle owners to evaluate risk factors, which were analyzed using univariate analysis and logistic regression. The prevalence of T. gondii infection among cattle was 8.93% (137/1533), and antibodies were found in 49.6% of the herds (66/133), in all macroregions. The risk factors associated with T. gondii infection in cattle were the following: number of animals in the herd (OR: 30.56), purchase of cattle (OR: 2.57), age group (OR: 1.95) and average annual temperature (OR: 1.77). Thus, the occurrence rate, spatial distribution and risk factors associated with T. gondii infection among cattle in the Kalunga quilombola community are documented here, for the first time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniella Ferreira Cordeiro Gomes
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Lucas Andrade Mendes
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Juliana Moraes Dias
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Müller Ribeiro-Andrade
- Setor de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Alagoas - UFAL, Maceió, AL, Brasil
| | | | - Rinaldo Aparecido Mota
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco - UFRPE, Recife, PE, Brasil
| | - Emmanuel Arnhold
- Departamento de Zootecnia, Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Maria Clorinda Soares Fioravanti
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
| | - Cairo Henrique Sousa de Oliveira
- Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás - UFG, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
- Laboratório Federal de Defesa Agropecuária em Goiânia, Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento, Goiânia, GO, Brasil
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Jirapattharasate C, Udonsom R, Prachasuphap A, Jongpitisub K, Dhepakson P. Development and evaluation of recombinant GRA8 protein for the serodiagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection in goats. BMC Vet Res 2021; 17:27. [PMID: 33422085 PMCID: PMC7796619 DOI: 10.1186/s12917-020-02719-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The development of sensitive and specific methods for detecting Toxoplasma gondii infection is critical for preventing and controlling toxoplasmosis in humans and other animals. Recently, various recombinant proteins have been used in serological tests for diagnosing toxoplasmosis. The production of these antigens is associated with live tachyzoites obtained from cell cultures or laboratory animals for genomic extraction to amplify target genes. Synthetic genes have gained a key role in recombinant protein production. For the first time, we demonstrated the production of the recombinant protein of the T. gondii dense granular antigen 8 (TgGRA8) gene based on commercial gene synthesis. Recombinant TgGRA8 plasmids were successfully expressed in an Escherichia coli system. The recombinant protein was affinity-purified and characterized via sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blotting. Furthermore, the diagnostic potential of the recombinant protein was assessed using 306 field serum samples from goats via indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA) and the latex agglutination test (LAT). RESULTS Western blotting using known positive serum samples from goats identified a single antigen at the expected molecular weight of TgGRA8 (27 kDa). iELISA illustrated that 15.40% of goat samples were positive for T. gondii-specific IgG antibodies. In addition, TgGRA8 provided high sensitivity and specificity, with significant concordance (91.83) and kappa values (0.69) compared with the results obtained using LAT. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight the production of a recombinant protein from a synthetic TgGRA8 gene and the ability to detect T. gondii infection in field samples. The sensitivity and specificity of TgGRA8 demonstrated that this protein could be a good serological marker for detecting specific IgG in goat sera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charoonluk Jirapattharasate
- Department of Preclinic and Applied Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, 999 Phutthamonthon sai 4 Rd, Salaya, Nakhonpathom, 73170 Thailand
| | - Ruenruetai Udonsom
- Department of Protozoology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Ratchawithi Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok, 10400 Thailand
| | - Apichai Prachasuphap
- Department of Medical Sciences, Medical Life Sciences Institute, 88/7 Tiwanon Road, Talad Kwan Subdistrict, Muang District, Nonthaburi, 11000 Thailand
| | - Kodcharad Jongpitisub
- Department of Medical Sciences, Medical Life Sciences Institute, 88/7 Tiwanon Road, Talad Kwan Subdistrict, Muang District, Nonthaburi, 11000 Thailand
| | - Panadda Dhepakson
- Department of Medical Sciences, Medical Life Sciences Institute, 88/7 Tiwanon Road, Talad Kwan Subdistrict, Muang District, Nonthaburi, 11000 Thailand
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GAO Y, GUO H, MOUMOUNI PFA, LIU M, LI J, EFSTRATIOU A, GALON EM, YBANEZ RH, MASATANI T, SOMA T, XUAN X. Development and evaluation of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay based on recombinant TgSRS2 for serodiagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection in cats. J Vet Med Sci 2020; 82:1662-1665. [PMID: 33071252 PMCID: PMC7719894 DOI: 10.1292/jvms.20-0231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on recombinant SAG1-related sequence 2 of Toxoplasma gondii (rTgSRS2) was developed to detect toxoplasmosis in cats. The specificity and sensitivity of rTgSRS2 ELISA were confirmed using a series of serum samples from T. gondii-experimentally infected mice. A total of 76 field samples from cats were examined by the developed ELISA. The rTgSRS2 ELISA showed a good diagnostic performance characterized by high concordance (88.16) and kappa value (0.76) with latex agglutination test (LAT). The sensitivity and specificity of the test were 92.68% and 82.86%, respectively. These results suggest that the ELISA based on rTgSRS2 could be a useful tool for serodiagnosis of T. gondii infection in cats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang GAO
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Huanping GUO
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Paul Franck Adjou MOUMOUNI
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Mingming LIU
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Jixu LI
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Artemis EFSTRATIOU
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Eloiza May GALON
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Rochelle Haidee YBANEZ
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
| | - Tatsunori MASATANI
- Transboundary Animal Diseases Research Center, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, 1-21-24 Korimoto,
Kogoshima 890-0065, Japan
| | - Takehisa SOMA
- Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Marupi Lifetech Co., Ltd., Fushio-cho, Ikeda, Osaka 563-0011, Japan
| | - Xuenan XUAN
- National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Hokkaido
080-8555, Japan
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I Ammar A, Moharm IM, Shaapan RM, A Rady A. <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Infection in Cattle Egret (<i>Bubulcus ibis</i>): First Report from Shebin El-Kom, Menoufia Governorate, Egypt. Pak J Biol Sci 2020; 23:1442-1449. [PMID: 33274873 DOI: 10.3923/pjbs.2020.1442.1449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is capable of infecting a broad range of intermediate hosts. Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a species of herons that is common in Egypt. This work aimed to study the prevalence of T. gondii in cattle egret which is an efficient tool of investigating environmental contamination with T. gondii. MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum, heart and brain tissues of 51 cattle egrets were collected from Shebin El-Kom, Menoufia, Egypt and tested using Modified Agglutination Test (MAT) and mice bioassay. RESULTS There was a detection rate of 13.7% (7/51) in these birds using MAT. By intraperitoneal injection of mice with heart and brain tissues digest of MAT positive birds, the parasite was isolated from two T. gondii sero-positive birds (28.6%). The mice bioassay was confirmed by MAT, Hematoxylin and Eosin (HAND E) staining of the brain of the infected mice, also by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and sequencing. CONCLUSION This is the first report of T. gondii infection in cattle egret from Egypt and more studies are needed on Egyptian wildlife to understand the sylvatic life cycle of the parasite.
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Brito Junior PDA, Rocha JM, Silva CAD, Oliveira PMV, Correia JE, Cruz LAD, Sevá ADP, Oliveira TVD, Silva AVD, Alvarez MRDV, Albuquerque GR. Survey of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in wild mammals captured from Atlantic Forest fragments in Bahia, northeastern Brazil. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 2020; 29:e004720. [PMID: 33111842 DOI: 10.1590/s1984-29612020083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii present in wild mammals that were trap captured in forest fragments in the State of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. A total of 368 individuals (246 rodents, 104 marsupials and 18 bats) were captured using live catch traps. Serum samples were tested using the modified agglutination test, with a cut-off point at 1:25 dilution. The total occurrence of antibodies to T. gondii was 10.6% (39/368), being 16.3% (17/104) in marsupials, 8.5% (21/246) in rodents, and 5.5% (1/18) in bats. Antibody titers varied between 25 and 50 for rodents, between 25 and 400 for marsupials, and were 25 for bats. This is the first report on antibodies to T. gondii in certain rodent species (Thaptomys nigrita, Hylaeamys laticeps, and Cerradomys subflavus), marsupial species (Monodelphis americana, Gracilinanus microtarsus, Gracilinanus agilis and Marmosops incanus), and bats of the genus Rhynchonycteris. The presence of antibodies to T. gondii in wild mammals demonstrates the possibility of these animals as sentinels of toxoplasmosis, especially on regions under high anthropogenic effect.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Josiane Moreira Rocha
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência Animal - PPGCA, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC, Ilhéus, BA, Brasil
| | - Caroline Araújo da Silva
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana - UEFS, Feira de Santana, BA, Brasil
| | | | - Joelande Esquivel Correia
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana - UEFS, Feira de Santana, BA, Brasil
| | - Luciara Alves da Cruz
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana - UEFS, Feira de Santana, BA, Brasil
| | - Anaiá da Paixão Sevá
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência Animal - PPGCA, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC, Ilhéus, BA, Brasil
- Laboratório de Epidemiologia e Bioestatística, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia - FMVZ, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, SP, Brasil
| | - Téo Veiga de Oliveira
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana - UEFS, Feira de Santana, BA, Brasil
| | - Aristeu Vieira da Silva
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana - UEFS, Feira de Santana, BA, Brasil
| | | | - George Rêgo Albuquerque
- Departamento de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC, Ilhéus, BA, Brasil
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Fabian BT, Hedar F, Koethe M, Bangoura B, Maksimov P, Conraths FJ, Villena I, Aubert D, Seeber F, Schares G. Fluorescent bead-based serological detection of Toxoplasma gondii infection in chickens. Parasit Vectors 2020; 13:388. [PMID: 32736581 PMCID: PMC7393333 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-020-04244-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Free-ranging chickens are often infected with Toxoplasma gondii and seroconvert upon infection. This indicates environmental contamination with T. gondii. METHODS Here, we established a bead-based multiplex assay (BBMA) using the Luminex technology for the detection of T. gondii infections in chickens. Recombinant biotinylated T. gondii surface antigen 1 (TgSAG1bio) bound to streptavidin-conjugated magnetic Luminex beads served as antigen. Serum antibodies were detected by a fluorophore-coupled secondary antibody. Beads of differing color codes were conjugated with anti-chicken IgY or chicken serum albumin and served for each sample as an internal positive or negative control, respectively. The assay was validated with sera from experimentally and naturally infected chickens. The results were compared to those from reference methods, including other serological tests, PCRs and bioassay in mice. RESULTS In experimentally infected chickens, the vast majority (98.5%, n = 65/66) of birds tested seropositive in the BBMA. This included all chickens positive by magnetic-capture PCR (100%, n = 45/45). Most, but not all inoculated and TgSAG1bio-BBMA-positive chickens were also positive in two previously established TgSAG1-ELISAs (TgSAG1-ELISASL, n = 61/65; or TgSAG1-ELISASH, n = 60/65), or positive in an immunofluorescence assay (IFAT, n = 64/65) and in a modified agglutination test (MAT, n = 61/65). All non-inoculated control animals (n = 28/28, 100%) tested negative. In naturally exposed chickens, the TgSAG1bio-BBMA showed a high sensitivity (98.5%; 95% confidence interval, CI: 90.7-99.9%) and specificity (100%; 95% CI: 85.0-100%) relative to a reference standard established using ELISA, IFAT and MAT. Almost all naturally exposed chickens that were positive in bioassay or by PCR tested positive in the TgSAG1bio-BBMA (93.5%; 95% CI: 77.1-98.9%), while all bioassay- or PCR-negative chickens remained negative (100%; 95% CI: 85.0-100%). CONCLUSIONS The TgSAG1bio-BBMA represents a suitable method for the detection of T. gondii infections in chickens with high sensitivity and specificity, which is comparable or even superior to other tests. Since assays based on this methodology allow for the simultaneous analysis of a single biological sample with respect to multiple analytes, the described assay may represent a component in future multiplex assays for broad serological monitoring of poultry and other farm animals for various pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedikt T. Fabian
- FG16: Mycotic and Parasitic Agents and Mycobacteria, Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Fatima Hedar
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, National Reference Centre for Toxoplasmosis, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Martin Koethe
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Food Hygiene, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Berit Bangoura
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Parasitology, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Veterinary Sciences, Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA
| | - Pavlo Maksimov
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, National Reference Centre for Toxoplasmosis, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Franz J. Conraths
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, National Reference Centre for Toxoplasmosis, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Isabelle Villena
- EA 7510, UFR Medecine, University of Reims Champagne Ardenne, Reims, France
- Laboratory of Parasitology, National Reference Centre on Toxoplasmosis, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, Reims, France
| | - Dominique Aubert
- EA 7510, UFR Medecine, University of Reims Champagne Ardenne, Reims, France
- Laboratory of Parasitology, National Reference Centre on Toxoplasmosis, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, Reims, France
| | - Frank Seeber
- FG16: Mycotic and Parasitic Agents and Mycobacteria, Robert Koch-Institute, Berlin, Germany
| | - Gereon Schares
- Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology, National Reference Centre for Toxoplasmosis, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
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Campero LM, Schott F, Gottstein B, Deplazes P, Sidler X, Basso W. Detection of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in oral fluid from pigs. Int J Parasitol 2019; 50:349-355. [PMID: 31866312 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2019.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Revised: 11/04/2019] [Accepted: 11/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii-infected pigs play a major role as a source of infection for humans and detection of high-risk herds is essential to implement control measures at the farm level. The aim of this study was to determine whether oral fluid (OF) could be used as a matrix to detect antibodies against T. gondii in infected pigs by immunoblot (IB). For this, OF from experimentally inoculated sows (n = 8) (serial samples) and naturally exposed group-housed fatteners (n = 42 groups, one sample/group) were analysed for IgG and IgA against T. gondii-SAG1 antigen by IB. Simultaneously, each animal was serologically tested for anti-T. gondii IgG by ELISA. Specific IgG was detected in the sera of all inoculated sows from 2 to 3 weeks post inoculation (pi) and in 3.4 to 92% of the pigs in 13 out of 42 groups. Experimentally inoculated sows showed positive OF-IB results for IgA (100%) and IgG (87.5%) at 1.5 weeks pi and continued yielding positive results for IgA (87.5-75%) and IgG (50%) until 4 weeks pi; however, from 8 weeks pi the frequency of detection of both isotypes was lower, despite constantly positive IgG values in serum-ELISA. Interestingly, consecutive daily samplings for 4 days at 13 and 30 weeks pi showed inconsistent results for some sows, showing that the antibody concentration in OF is prone to timely variations. Pooled OF from groups with 91 and 92% of seropositive pigs yielded positive IB results for IgG and IgA. Fattener groups with ≤13% of seropositive pigs gave negative IB results to both isotypes. Our results showed that antibodies to T. gondii can be detected in OF from infected pigs, and that IgA seems to be a more adequate target than IgG. Although OF does not seem to be a robust matrix to assess the serological status for T. gondii in individual animals, this diagnostic approach represents an interesting non-invasive, low-cost and animal welfare friendly option as a screening method at the farm level to determine high exposure to T. gondii in the herd.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucía María Campero
- Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 122, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland; Immunoparasitology Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, National University of La Plata, 60 and 118 s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Godoy Cruz, 2290, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Franziska Schott
- Department of Farm Animals, Division of Swine Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Bruno Gottstein
- Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 122, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Peter Deplazes
- Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Xaver Sidler
- Department of Farm Animals, Division of Swine Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Walter Basso
- Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Bern, Länggassstrasse 122, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland; Department of Farm Animals, Division of Swine Medicine, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 260, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland; Institute of Parasitology, Vetsuisse-Faculty, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 266a, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland.
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Crouch EEV, Mittel LD, Southard TL, Cerqueira-Cézar CK, Murata FHA, Kwok OCH, Su C, Dubey JP. Littermate cats rescued from a shelter succumbed to acute, primary toxoplasmosis associated with TOXO DB genotype #4, generally circulating in wildlife. Parasitol Int 2019; 72:101942. [PMID: 31220634 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2019.101942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 06/14/2019] [Accepted: 06/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Cats are important in the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection because they are the only hosts that can excrete the environmentally resistant oocysts in the environment. Although exposure is common (approximately 30% of cats in the USA), clinical toxoplasmosis is relatively rare. Here, we report overwhelming disseminated toxoplasmosis in two litter mate 8-week-old kittens, thought to have acquired toxoplasmosis postnatally. Five domestic shorthair kittens, approximately 2-3 weeks of age, and the queen were found in upstate New York by a rescue group in spring of 2018. The kittens and queen were placed in a foster home for approximately 4-5 weeks and then transferred to a shelter. Two kittens died unexpectedly following a short illness. Postmortem examination of the two deceased kittens revealed overwhelming toxoplasmosis and the presence of entero-epithelial stages in small intestine, suggestive of recent ingestion of infected tissues. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in the deceased kittens and the queen but not in the three asymptomatic littermate kittens. No obvious cause of immunosuppression was demonstrated. Genetic typing of T. gondii from DNA extracted from liver and lungs of both kittens revealed Toxo DB #4 genotype, commonly found in wildlife. Owners and veterinarians should be aware of dangers of feeding raw meat to cats and contact with infected cat feces. Procedures to safely handle T. gondii infected feces in hospital setting are outlined.
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Affiliation(s)
- E E V Crouch
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, 240 Farrier Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - L D Mittel
- Animal Health Diagnostic Center, Department of Population and Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - T L Southard
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, 240 Farrier Road, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - C K Cerqueira-Cézar
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | - F H A Murata
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | - O C H Kwok
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA
| | - C Su
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. USA
| | - J P Dubey
- United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
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Dai F, Zhuo X, Kong Q, Du J, Yu H, Zhou S, Song X, Tong Q, Lou D, Lou Q, Lu L, Lv Y, Sa X, Lu S. Early Detection of Toxoplasma gondii Infection In Mongolian Gerbil By Quantitative Real-Time PCR. J Parasitol 2019; 105:52-57. [PMID: 30807726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is associated with several clinical syndromes, including encephalitis, chorioretinitis, and congenital infection. Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite found in both humans and animals. Mongolian gerbils, which are more susceptible to both high- and low-virulence Toxoplasma strains compared with mice, are considered useful models for assessing diagnosis and treatment methods for toxoplasmosis, as well as infection by and host defense to this organism. Here we established a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method targeting the B1 gene for early and specific detection of T. gondii infection in Mongolian gerbil. The detection limit of the developed qPCR was approximately 1 T. gondii tachyzoite. This method was also applied to detect T. gondii genomic DNA in experimentally infected Mongolian gerbils, with positive results in blood (66.7%), liver (73.3%), lung (80.0%), spleen (80.0%), and peritoneal fluid (66.7%) samples as early as 1 day postinfection. Specificity tests confirmed no cross-reactivity with DNA templates of Neospora caninum, Cryptosporidium parvum, Eimeria tenella, Trypanosoma evansi, Schistosoma japonicum, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, and Strongyloides stercoralis. This study first reports the use of Mongolian gerbils as an animal model for early diagnosis of toxoplasmosis by qPCR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangwei Dai
- 1 Laboratory Animal Centre of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Xunhui Zhuo
- 2 Department of Immunity and Biochemistry, Institute of Parasitic Disease, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Qingming Kong
- 2 Department of Immunity and Biochemistry, Institute of Parasitic Disease, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Jiangtao Du
- 1 Laboratory Animal Centre of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Haijie Yu
- 3 Jiaxing Vocational Technical College, Jiaxing, China
| | - Shasang Zhou
- 1 Laboratory Animal Centre of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Xiaoming Song
- 4 Laboratory Animal Centre of Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036, China
| | - Qunbo Tong
- 2 Department of Immunity and Biochemistry, Institute of Parasitic Disease, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Di Lou
- 2 Department of Immunity and Biochemistry, Institute of Parasitic Disease, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Qi Lou
- 1 Laboratory Animal Centre of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Lingqun Lu
- 1 Laboratory Animal Centre of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Yu Lv
- 1 Laboratory Animal Centre of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Xiaoying Sa
- 1 Laboratory Animal Centre of Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
| | - Shaohong Lu
- 2 Department of Immunity and Biochemistry, Institute of Parasitic Disease, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, 310013, China
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Felin E, Hälli O, Heinonen M, Jukola E, Fredriksson-Ahomaa M. Assessment of the feasibility of serological monitoring and on-farm information about health status for the future meat inspection of fattening pigs. Prev Vet Med 2018; 162:76-82. [PMID: 30621901 DOI: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2018.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2018] [Revised: 11/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Current macroscopic meat inspection cannot detect the most common pork-borne pathogens (Salmonella spp., Yersinia enterocolitica and Toxoplasma gondii). Furthermore, food chain information (FCI) may not provide sufficient data for visual-only inspection, which is supposed to be the common way of inspection of pigs in the European Union. Our observational study aimed to evaluate the serological monitoring and the clinical evaluation of on-farm health status of pigs and assess the feasibility of these data as part of the FCI in meat inspection. We studied the serological status of Salmonella spp., Yersinia spp. and T. gondii in pigs during the fattening period. Additionally, we evaluated the association between on-farm health status and meat inspection findings. On 57 indoor fattening pig farms in Finland, we collected blood samples (mean of 20 pigs/farm) and assessed the on-farm health (coughing, tail biting, lameness) at the end of the fattening period. We visited 34 of these farms also at the beginning of the fattening for sampling and on-farm health evaluation of the same pigs. Meat inspection results were obtained after slaughter for all 57 farms. Salmonella seroprevalence was low at the end of the fattening period: it was 17.6%, 10.6% or 1.9%, with the cut-off values of OD15% (recommended by the test manufacturer), OD20% (used by Danish monitoring programme) and OD40% (used by German monitoring programme), respectively. The overall seroprevalence of Salmonella spp. and Yersinia spp. increased significantly (P < 0.001) during the fattening period (from 8.1% to 17.2% and from 30.3% to 72.3%, respectively), while the seroprevalence of T. gondii remained low (<1%). The within-farm seroprevalences of Salmonella spp. and Yersinia spp. differed significantly between the farms and this farm-level serological data could be used as FCI for risk-based decisions to improve food safety. Such potentially feasible decisions could include additional carcass testing, carcass decontamination, carcass processing, slaughtering arrangements and improved biosecurity measures at the farm. However, risk mitigation targets and procedures must be carefully adjusted for each pathogen regarding also economic aspects. Tail biting observed on farm was associated with partial carcass condemnations and arthritis at slaughter. This information could be included in the FCI and used when making decisions regarding meat inspection procedure: visual-only or additional inspections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elina Felin
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O Box 66, 00014, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Outi Hälli
- Department of Production Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Paroninkuja 20, 04920 SAARENTAUS, Finland.
| | - Mari Heinonen
- Department of Production Animal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Paroninkuja 20, 04920 SAARENTAUS, Finland.
| | - Elias Jukola
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O Box 66, 00014, University of Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Maria Fredriksson-Ahomaa
- Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, P.O Box 66, 00014, University of Helsinki, Finland.
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Gual I, Giannitti F, Hecker YP, Shivers J, Entrocassi AC, Morrell EL, Pardini L, Fiorentino MA, Rodríguez Fermepin M, Unzaga JM, Cantón GJ, Venturini MC, Moore DP. First case report of Toxoplasma gondii-induced abortions and stillbirths in sheep in Argentina. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports 2018; 12:39-42. [PMID: 31014806 DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2018.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2017] [Revised: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this study is to report an episode of reproductive losses due to toxoplasmosis in a sheep flock in Argentina. A total of 15 abortions and 9 stillbirths were recorded in a flock of 190 Texel ewes. The affected ewes were more likely to be seropositive for Toxoplasma gondii (15/24) than ewes that delivered normal lambs (5/34, OR=9.6, 95%CI=2.7-34.0, p=0.0004). A pair of aborted twins was recovered for diagnostic investigation. One of these fetuses and its dam were seropositive for T. gondii. Histological examination of the two fetuses revealed non-suppurative myocarditis and epicarditis, portal hepatitis and multifocal necrotizing encephalitis with protozoal cysts in the brain. T. gondii was detected intralesionally by immunohistochemistry in one fetus and by PCR in both. Further investigations are necessary to evaluate the economic losses due to T. gondii in the Argentinean ovine industry.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Gual
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Av. Rivadavia 1917, CABA, Argentina
| | - F Giannitti
- Veterinary Population Medicine Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota. 1333 Gortner Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, USA; Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA), La Estanzuela. Ruta 50 Km. 11, Colonia, Uruguay
| | - Y P Hecker
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Av. Rivadavia 1917, CABA, Argentina
| | - J Shivers
- Veterinary Population Medicine Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota. 1333 Gortner Avenue, Saint Paul, MN, USA
| | - A C Entrocassi
- Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Junín 956, CABA, Argentina
| | - E L Morrell
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Ruta 226 Km. 73.5, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - L Pardini
- Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, PC1900, La Plata, Argentina
| | - M A Fiorentino
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Ruta 226 Km. 73.5, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - M Rodríguez Fermepin
- Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Junín 956, CABA, Argentina
| | - J M Unzaga
- Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, PC1900, La Plata, Argentina
| | - G J Cantón
- Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Ruta 226 Km. 73.5, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - M C Venturini
- Laboratorio de Inmunoparasitología, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, PC1900, La Plata, Argentina
| | - D P Moore
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). Av. Rivadavia 1917, CABA, Argentina.
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Nabi H, Rashid MI, Islam S, Bajwa AA, Gul R, Shehzad W, Akbar H, Ahmad N, Durrani AZ, Waqas M, Ashraf K. Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts through Copro-PCR in cats at Pet Center (UVAS), Lahore, Pakistan. J PAK MED ASSOC 2018; 68:115-118. [PMID: 29371731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Toxoplasmosis is a major zoonotic disease of warm-blooded animals caused by Toxoplasma gondii. Cats are the only definitive host and they excrete environmentally resistant T. gondii oocysts in their faeces. Coproscopy was used to detect oocysts of enteric coccidians and then Copro-PCR was employed to test specifically for T. gondii in 470 cat samples. The prevalence of T. gondii oocysts was 2.3% (11/470) based on PCR. We observed 15 (3.2%) of 470 samples positive for coccidian oocysts by microscopy. The presence of Copro-DNA of T. gondii was found significantly higher (p<0.05) in males than females. We tested 11 samples of T. gondii oocysts in which 9 samples were from coccidian oocysts positive samples and 2 samples from negative faecal samples. Our results showed that PCR is the reliable method for the detection of faecal oocysts of T. gondii in cats as compared to microscopy. As per our knowledge, ours is first study for Copro-PCR prevalence of cats' T. gondii oocysts excretion in Pakistan.
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Affiliation(s)
- Habibun Nabi
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Imran Rashid
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Saher Islam
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Amna Arshad Bajwa
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Rahim Gul
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Wasim Shehzad
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Haroon Akbar
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Nisar Ahmad
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Aneela Zameer Durrani
- Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Pet Center, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
| | - Kamran Ashraf
- Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) Lahore, Pakistan
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Zhou DH, Zheng WB, Hou JL, Ma JG, Zhang XX, Zhu XQ, Cong W. Molecular detection and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in farmed raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) in Shandong province, eastern China. Acta Trop 2017; 172:143-146. [PMID: 28476602 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2017] [Revised: 05/01/2017] [Accepted: 05/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a successful opportunistic parasite, affecting a wide range of vertebrate animals and humans. Genetic diversity of T. gondii in raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) is of great importance to understand the transmission of T. gondii in the environment. However, no information is available about the distribution of genetic diversity of T. gondii infection in raccoon dogs. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and genetic characterization of T. gondii from raccoon dogs in Shandong province, eastern China. A total of 314 brain tissue samples of raccoon dogs were collected and genomic DNA was extracted and assayed for T. gondii infection using semi-nested PCR targeting B1 gene. The positive DNA samples were typed at 10 genetic markers (SAG1, SAG2(5'+3' SAG2, alter.SAG2), SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico) by multiplex multilocus nested polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (Mn- PCR-RFLP) technology. Thirty-five (11.15%) of 314 DNA samples were detected positive. Only six samples were completely typed at all genetic loci, and these samples represented ToxoDB genotype#9. Two sample were typed at 9 genetic loci and one was typed at 8 genetic loci, all of them represented Type I. To our knowledge, this is the first report of genetic characterization of T. gondii in raccoon dogs in China. These results revealed the existence of genetic diversity of T. gondii in raccoon dogs in China. These data provided base-line information for controlling T. gondii infection in raccoon dogs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong-Hui Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China
| | - Wen-Bin Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130118, PR China
| | - Jun-Ling Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China
| | - Jian-Gang Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130118, PR China
| | - Xiao-Xuan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, Jilin Province 130118, PR China
| | - Xing-Quan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China
| | - Wei Cong
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China; College of Marine Science, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai, Shandong Province 264209, PR China.
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Attia MM, Saad MF, Abdel-Salam AB. MILK AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR SERUM IN DIAGNOSIS OF TOXOPLASMOSIS IN GOATS. J Egypt Soc Parasitol 2017; 47:227-234. [PMID: 30157352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The present study determined the milk value rather than serum in diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in goats using ELISA and Modified Agglutination Test (MAT). ELISA proved to be more specific and sensitive (92% & 85%), than MAT (90% & 80%) in diagnosis of Anti-T. gondii Antibodies (ATAb) in group of microscopically proved T gondii aborted goats respectively. There was a direct relationship between.the mean ELISA O.D. value and the level of Ab-titer in MAT positive sera. The overall prevalence of infection in 600 serum samples from grazing goats was 22% and 20% after examination using ELISA and IAT respectively. It was lower after examination of their milk (20%) and (18%) by both techniques respectively. ATAb were significant high in serum (P < 0.05) during January, February and March, decreased significantly in April (P < 0.05) till August, then significant increased (P < 0.05) from September to December using ELISA. In time where ATAb were present by different levels among the whole year in serum, it didn't diagnose in milk from June to September. The infection was high in Egyptian Baladi breed in serum and milk (30% and 27%), while the Barki breed was the lowest one (13.33% and 12%) respectively. High rate of infection (30% in serum and 27% in milk) was recorded in goats > 2 years old, while no ATAb could be detected in goats less than one year old. The highest prevalence of infection (39.28% in serum and 37.14% in milk) was in Qalyoubia, the lowest one (11.25% & 9.58%) was in Giza governorate. The prevalence of infection was high after examination of serum and milk of goats with previous history of abortion in comparison with the other goats.
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Sun XM, Ji YS, Liu XY, Xiang M, He G, Xie L, Suo JX, Suo X. Improvement and Evaluation of Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Rapid Detection of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Human Blood Samples. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0169125. [PMID: 28056092 PMCID: PMC5215908 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2016] [Accepted: 12/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), an attractive DNA amplification method, was developed as a valuable tool for the rapid detection of Toxoplasma gondii. In this study, species-specific LAMP primers were designed by targeting the AF146527 sequence, which was a conserved sequence of 200- to 300-fold repetitive 529 bp fragment of T.gondii. LAMP reaction system was optimized so that it could detect the minimal DNA sample such as a single tachyzoite or 10 copies of recombinant plasmid. No cross-reactivity was found when using DNA from other parasites as templates. Subsequently, a total of 200 human blood samples were directly investigated by two diagnostic methods, LAMP and conventional PCR. Fourteen of 200 (7%) samples were positive for Toxoplasma by LAMP (the primers developed in this study), whereas only 5 of 200 (2.5%) were proved positive by conventional PCR. The procedure of the LAMP assay was very simple, as the reaction would be carried out in a single tube under isothermal conditions at 64°C and the result would be read out with 1 h (as early as 35 min with loop primers). Thus, this method has the advantages of rapid amplification, simple operation, and easy detection and would be useful for rapid and reliable clinical diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis, especially in developing countries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi-meng Sun
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Yong-sheng Ji
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Xian-yong Liu
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Mei Xiang
- The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Guang He
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Li Xie
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Jing-xia Suo
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
| | - Xun Suo
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- Key Laboratory of Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- * E-mail:
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Abstract
Clinical toxoplasmosis is commonly reported in the cat, with the most consistent findings being ocular, pulmonic, hepatic, neurological, gastrointestinal and muscular abnormalities. Myocarditis, whilst frequently identified at post-mortem examination, has not been identified ante-mortem. In immunocompromised humans, myocarditis associated with toxoplasmosis is not an uncommon complication. In such cases, lymphocytic myocardial infiltration can lead to depressed myocardial function, which can be associated with congestive heart failure, rhythm disturbances and pericardial effusions. In addition, myocardial failure has been reported in immunocompetent humans associated with active toxoplasmosis [ Chandenier J, Jarry G, Nassif D, Douadi Y, Paris L, Thulliez P, Bourges-Petit E, Raccurt C (2000) Congestive heart failure and myocarditis after seroconversion for toxoplasmosis in two immunocompetent patients. European Journal of Clinical Microbiological Infectious Disease19, 375–379 ]. Here we describe a cat with echocardiographic changes consistent with infiltrative or inflammatory disease, and elevated IgG and IgM titres to Toxoplasma gondii. There was resolution of these myocardial changes once the toxoplasmosis was treated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerry E Simpson
- Division of Veterinary Clinical Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Nr Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG, Scotland, UK.
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43
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Meseck EK, Njaa BL, Haley NJ, Park EH, Barr SC. Use of a Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction to Rapidly Differentiate Neospora Caninum from Toxoplasma Gondii in an Adult Dog with Necrotizing Myocarditis and Myocardial Infarct. J Vet Diagn Invest 2016; 17:565-8. [PMID: 16475515 DOI: 10.1177/104063870501700607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
This report describes a 3-year-old male castrated Mastiff dog that died unexpectedly with locally extensive, acute, necrotizing myocarditis and myocardial infarction. Intralesional protozoal tachyzoites in the affected myocardium were confirmed to be Neospora caninum by a novel multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry. Protozoal organisms were not identified in other tissues by histology, immunohistochemistry, or PCR. The multiplex PCR assay was used to quickly provide preliminary results on fresh myocardium to differentiate N. caninum and Toxoplasma gondii. Neosporosis is an uncommon cause of myocarditis in adult dogs and differential diagnoses for myocarditis in this population of dogs are reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily K Meseck
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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Yin Q, El-Ashram S, Liu H, Sun X, Zhao X, Liu X, Suo X. Interferon-Gamma Release Assay: An Effective Tool to Detect Early Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Mice. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0137808. [PMID: 26378802 PMCID: PMC4574936 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Accepted: 08/20/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Early diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection before the formation of tissue cysts is vital for treatment, as drugs available for toxoplasmosis cannot kill bradyzoites contained in the cysts. However, current methods, such as antibody-based ELISA, are ineffective for detection of early infection. Here, we developed an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA), measuring the IFN-γ released by T lymphocytes stimulated by Toxoplasma antigen peptides in vitro, for the detection of T. gondii infection in mice. Splenocytes isolated from infected mice were stimulated by peptides derived from dense granule proteins GRA4 and GRA6 and rhoptry protein ROP7, and released IFN-γ was measured by ELISA. Results showed that both acute and chronic infection could be detected by IGRA. More importantly, IGRA detected infection as early as the third day post infection; while serum IgM and IgG were detected 9 days and 13 days post infection, respectively. Our findings demonstrated that an IGRA-positive and ELISA-negative sample revealed an early infection, indicating the combination of IGRA and ELISA can be employed for the early diagnosis of T. gondii infection in human beings, cats and livestock.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Yin
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Saeed El-Ashram
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- Faculty of Science, Kafr El-Sheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt
| | - Hongbin Liu
- Department of Pharmacology, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, 075000, China
| | - Ximeng Sun
- Department of Parasitology, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China
| | - Xinxin Zhao
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Xianyong Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
| | - Xun Suo
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, 100193, China
- * E-mail:
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45
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El-Ashram S, Sun X, Yin Q, Liu X, Suo X. Exploring early and late Toxoplasma gondii strain RH infection by two-dimensional immunoblots of chicken immunoglobulin G and M profiles. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0121647. [PMID: 25803039 PMCID: PMC4372353 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2014] [Accepted: 02/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular apicomplexan parasite infecting warm-blooded vertebrate hosts, with only early infection stage being contained with drugs. But diagnosis differencing early and late infection was not available. In the present investigation, 2-dimensional immunobloting was used to explore early and late infections in chickens. The protein expression of T. gondii was determined by image analysis of the tachyzoites proteome separated by standard-one and conventional two-dimentional gel polyacrylamide electrophoresis (2D- PAGE). Pooled gels were prepared from tachyzoites of T. gondii. A representative gel spanning a pH range of 3-10 of the tachyzoite proteome consisted of 1306 distinct polypeptide spots. Two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) combined with 2-DE immunoblotting was used to resolve and compare immunoglobulins (Igs) M & G patterns against Toxoplasma gondii strain RH (mouse virulent strain). Total tachyzoite proteins of T. gondii were separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and analyzed by Western blotting for their reactivity with the 7 and 56 days post-infection (dpi) SPF chicken antisera. Different antigenic determinant patterns were detected during analysis with M and G immunoglobulins. Of the total number of polypeptide spots analyzed (1306 differentially expressed protein spots), 6.97% were identified as having shared antigenic polypeptide spots on immunoblot profiles with IgG and IgM antibodies regardless the time after infection. Furthermore, some of the immunoreactive polypeptide spots seemed to be related to the stage of infection. Interestingly, we found natural antibodies to toxoplasmic antigens, in addition to the highly conserved antigenic determinants that reacted with non-specific secondary antibody; goat anti-chicken IgG antibodies conjugated with horseradish peroxidase. In conclusion, unique reactive polypeptide spots are promising candidates for designation of molecular markers to discriminate early and late chicken infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saeed El-Ashram
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
- Faculty of Science, Kafr El-Sheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt
| | - Ximeng Sun
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Qing Yin
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
| | - Xianyong Liu
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
| | - Xun Suo
- State Key Laboratory for Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- National Animal Protozoa Laboratory & College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
- Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing, China
- * E-mail:
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46
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Gatkowska JM, Dziadek B, Dziadek J, Dzitko K, Długońska H. Recombinant MAG1 Protein of Toxoplasma gondii as a Diagnostic Antigen. Pol J Microbiol 2015; 64:55-59. [PMID: 26094316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential diagnostic usefulness of the full-length recombinant Toxoplasma gondii MAG1 protein by determining the levels of specific IgM and IgG antibodies in mouse and human sera obtained from individuals with acute and chronic toxoplasmosis. The obtained results revealed that IgG antibodies against MAG1 are a sensitive and specific marker of T. gondii infection since the protein was recognized by both mouse and human sera, 100% and 94.3%, respectively, rendering the full-length rMAG1 a prospective alternative for the polyvalent native antigen (TLA).
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47
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Fu LL, Yan C, Liu ZZ, Kong DL, Lv L, Shi N. [Isolation and identification of Toxoplasma gondii strains from cats in Xuzhou region]. Zhongguo Xue Xi Chong Bing Fang Zhi Za Zhi 2014; 26:656-668. [PMID: 25856893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To isolate Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) strains from stray cats and explore their prevalence in Xuzhou City. METHODS The sera of 41 stray cats were collected to detect the antibodies of T. gondii by using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) kit. The tissues including the heart, brain and tongue from these cats were digested by acid pepsin solution and inoculated to Kunming mice. These suspicious isolates were subsequently identified by a specific PCR method. RESULTS A total of 11 strains were isolated from 41 stray cats, which were confirmed by the PCR results. Moreover, 17 cats (41.5%) were found to be positive with the antibodies of T. gondii. CONCLUSION A high prevalence of T. gondii infection was found in Xuzhou City, which indicates that the stray cats infected with T. gondii would be an important infection source that may infect humans and other animals in this area.
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Gebremedhin EZ, Abdurahaman M, Hadush T, Tessema TS. Seroprevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in sheep and goats slaughtered for human consumption in Central Ethiopia. BMC Res Notes 2014; 7:696. [PMID: 25287190 PMCID: PMC4196015 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2013] [Accepted: 10/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common parasitic zoonoses worldwide. Humans get infections with T. gondii after ingesting raw or undercooked meat or oocysts via contaminated soil, food or water; or congenitally by transplacental transmission of tachyzoites. The objectives of the present study were to estimate the seroprevalence and assess risk factors for T. gondii infection in sheep and goats slaughtered for human consumption in Central Ethiopia. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried out from September, 2011 to November, 2012 in randomly selected small ruminants (n = 628). Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) was used to detect IgG antibodies specific to T. gondii. A titer of 1: 40 or 1: 4000 or both was considered indicative of T. gondii exposure. Logistic regression was used to assess potential risk factors. RESULTS An overall seroprevalence of 17.68% (111/628) (95% confidence interval [CI]:14.77-20.89) was detected. Twenty percent (61/305) seroprevalence (95% CI: 15.6-624.94) in sheep was found with a reciprocal end titers of 60 in fourteen, 180 in three, 540 in two, 1620 in five, 6000 in nine, 18000 in six, 54000 in eleven and 162000 in eleven. Similarly, seroprevalence of 15.48% (50/323) (95% CI:11.71-19.89) in goats was found with a reciprocal end titers of 60 in eighteen, 180 in five, 540 in three, 1620 in seven, 6000 in four, 18,000 in four, 54,000 in five and 162,000 in four. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of T. gondii infection was significantly higher in adult sheep (adjusted Odd ratio (aOR) = 2.02, 95% CI: 1.10-3.70; P = 0.023) than in young sheep and in sheep sampled during the dry season (aOR = 4.19, 95% CI: 1.55-11.33, P = 0.005) than those sampled during wet season. CONCLUSIONS The seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in small ruminants slaughtered for human consumption in Central Ethiopia is high. Age and season are significant predictors of seropositivity in sheep. The study highlighted the importance of meat of small ruminants as a potential source of infection for humans. Prevention of the spread of the disease through farm biosecurity measures is essential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Endrias Zewdu Gebremedhin
- />Department of Veterinary Laboratory Technology, Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences Ambo University, P.O.Box 19, Ambo, Ethiopia
| | - Mukarim Abdurahaman
- />College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture, Jimma University, P.O.Box 307, Jimma, Ethiopia
| | - Tsehaye Hadush
- />College of Veterinary Medicine, Samera University, P.O.Box 132, Samera, Ethiopia
| | - Tesfaye Sisay Tessema
- />Institute of Biotechnology, College of Natural and computational Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Döşkaya M, Caner A, Can H, Gülçe İz S, Gedik Y, Döşkaya AD, Kalantari-Dehaghi M, Gürüz Y. Diagnostic value of a Rec-ELISA using Toxoplasma gondii recombinant SporoSAG, BAG1, and GRA1 proteins in murine models infected orally with tissue cysts and oocysts. PLoS One 2014; 9:e108329. [PMID: 25268351 PMCID: PMC4182662 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2014] [Accepted: 07/07/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii causes congenital toxoplasmosis in newborns resulting with fetal anomalies. Determining the initiation time of infection is very important for pregnant women and current serological assays have drawbacks in distinguishing the recently acute toxoplasmosis. Diagnosis of recently acute infection may be improved by using stage specific antigens in serological assays. In the present study, the diagnostic value of sporozoite specific SporoSAG, bradyzoite specific BAG1 proteins and GRA1 protein expressed by all forms of the parasite have been evaluated ELISA using sera systematically collected from mice administered orally with tissue cyst and oocysts. The anti-SporoSAG IgM antibodies in sera obtained from mice infected with oocysts peaked significantly at days 1, 10, and 15 (P<0.01). The anti-BAG1 IgM antibodies in sera obtained from mice infected with tissue cysts peaked significantly at days 15, 40, and 120 (P<0.05). The anti-GRA1 IgM antibodies in sera obtained from mice infected with oocysts peaked significantly at days 2, 10, and 40 (P<0.01). The anti-GRA1 IgM antibodies in sera obtained from mice infected with tissue cysts peaked significantly only at day 40 (P<0.05). The anti-SporoSAG, anti-BAG1, and anti-GRA1 IgG titers of mice showed significant increases at day 40 (P<0.05) and decrement started for only anti-GRA1 IgG at day 120. The presence of anti-SporoSAG IgM and IgG antibodies can be interpreted as recently acute infection between days 10-40 because IgM decreases at day 40. Similarly, presence of anti-BAG1 IgM and absence of IgG can be evaluated as a recently acute infection that occurred 40 days before because IgG peaks at day 40. A peak in anti-GRA1 antibody level at first testing and reduction in consecutive sample can be considered as an infection approximately around day 40 or prior. Overall, recombinant SporoSAG, BAG1 and GRA1 proteins can be accepted as valuable diagnostic markers of recently acute toxoplasmosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mert Döşkaya
- Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
| | - Ayşe Caner
- Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
| | - Hüseyin Can
- Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
- Department of Molecular Biology, Ege University Faculty of Sciences, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
| | - Sultan Gülçe İz
- Department of Bioengineering, Ege University Faculty of Engineering, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
| | - Yaprak Gedik
- Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
- Department of Bioengineering, Ege University Faculty of Engineering, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
| | | | - Mina Kalantari-Dehaghi
- Department of Dermatology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, United States of America
| | - Yüksel Gürüz
- Department of Parasitology, Ege University Medical School, Bornova/İzmir, Turkey
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50
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Hamidinejat H, Nabavi L, Mayahi M, Ghourbanpoor M, Pourmehdi Borojeni M, Norollahi Fard S, Shokrollahi M. Comparison of three diagnostic methods for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii in free range chickens. Trop Biomed 2014; 31:507-513. [PMID: 25382478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in free range chickens is an indicator of the prevalence and distribution pattern of T. gondii in the environment. For this purpose, serologic assays especially modified agglutination test (MAT) is the main approach in the literature. The main goal of this study was to compare the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on amplification of first internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) of ribosomal DNA gene, ELISA, and MAT to demonstrate T. gondii infection in free range chicken. A total of 106 adult free - range chickens were killed. Blood, whole heart and brain samples were taken. Sera were examined for the presence of T. gondii antibodies by ELISA and MAT as well. Selected tissues were used for PCR and bioassay in mice. The results revealed that 48.11%, 51.89%, 46.23% and 27.36% of chickens were positive in ELISA, MAT, PCR and bioassay in mice respectively. Good correlation between the results of PCR, ELISA and MAT were detected, but not with bioassay in mice. Compared with PCR, the sensitivity and specificity of ELISA were 92.16% and 96.36% respectively and also for MAT, the sensitivity was 81.81% and the specificity was 92.15%. The specific diagnosis of T. gondii infection in chickens is central to a better understanding of the epidemiology and dynamics of transmission among the various host population and is particularly important for planning effective optimal prevention and control programs. Our data in the present study demonstrated that PCR, ELISA and the MAT are helpful and precise methods to detect T. gondii in naturally infected free-range chickens.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Hamidinejat
- Department of Pathobiology, Veterinary Faculty, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - L Nabavi
- Department of Pathobiology, Veterinary Faculty, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - M Mayahi
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Veterinary Faculty, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - M Ghourbanpoor
- Department of Pathobiology, Veterinary Faculty, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - M Pourmehdi Borojeni
- Department of Food Hygiene, Veterinary Faculty, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - S Norollahi Fard
- Department of Pathobiology, Veterinary Faculty, Shahid Bahonar Kerman, Iran
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