Molecular diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women

Turčeková, Ľ.; Spišák, František; Dubinský, P.; Ostró, A

doi:10.4149/bll_2012_071

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In a study conducted by Turcekova and colleagues in 2012 in Kosice, 15 amniotic fluids and 1 blood sample from pregnant women suspected of toxoplasmosis were analyzed. The presence of T. gondii in the blood of a pregnant woman was confirmed and identified as genotype I, which is the same genotype identified in the present study in two pregnant women [ 31 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Seromolecular study on the prevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women referred to a gynecology hospital in Urmia, northwest part of Iran in 2022

Bashour,

Aminpour,

Vazifehkhah

et al. 2024

BMC Infect Dis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Toxoplasmosis is a frequent infection among the human population. The infection can cause devastating complications for the fetus during pregnancy. The present study aimed to determine the serological and molecular prevalence of the infection and molecular characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates among pregnant women referred to Kowsar Hospital, Urmia, Iran. In a cross-sectional study, 340 blood samples were collected from pregnant women referred to Kowsar Hospital, Urmia, Iran from May to July 2022. Anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM seropositivity were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. PCR was carried out by targeting the GRA6 gene of the parasite on all patients’ buffy coats. Anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies were positive in two (0.6%) women, and 101 (29.7%) women had anti-T. gondii IgG and 70.3% were seronegative. PCR was positive in two IgM-positive women, and both isolates belonged to T. gondii carrying the GRA6 allele of lineage I. The risk of infection was significantly higher in women who had constant contact with cats and soil, and who were residents of rural areas. The two IgM-positive women were asymptomatic regarding acute toxoplasmosis. According to the results of the present study, the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women in Urmia is similar to its prevalence in other areas in northwestern Iran, and despite the low prevalence of acute infection, it should not be ignored.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Seromolecular study on the prevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women referred to a gynecology hospital in Urmia, northwest part of Iran in 2022

Bashour,

Aminpour,

Vazifehkhah

et al. 2024

BMC Infect Dis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Twenty-four articles aimed to distinguish acute/chronic phases of infection, and all of them employed blood samples [ 21 , 24 – 27 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 38 – 41 , 44 , 47 , 51 , 52 , 54 – 57 , 59 – 61 ]. Twenty-four articles presented other objectives, such as evaluating the treatment effect on CT diagnosis [ 5 , 13 , 27 , 64 ], correlating parasite load to CT severity [ 6 , 22 ], characterizing T. gondii strains on CT [ 12 , 16 ], and others [ 17 , 19 , 23 , 28 , 38 , 39 , 42 , 48 – 50 , 58 , 59 , 62 , 63 , 67 , 69 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Te laboratory diagnosis approaches commonly employed in CT are based on molecular, parasitological, and immunological assays such as PCR, bioassays, and immunoenzymatic assays, respectively. Tese methods allow detecting the parasite or antibodies using diferent samples such as amniotic fuid (AF) [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23], umbilical cord blood, maternal and newborn blood , placental fragments [62][63][64][65][66][67][68], and colostrum [69]. Tere are still numerous gaps in CT diagnosis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Congenital Toxoplasmosis Diagnosis: Advances and Challenges

Franco,

Scussel,

Silva

et al. 2024

Journal of Tropical Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective. To understand how congenital toxoplasmosis (CT) diagnosis has evolved over the years, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the kind of analysis that has been employed for CT diagnosis. Methods. PubMed and Lilacs databases were used in order to access the kind of analysis that has been employed for CT diagnosis in several samples. Our search combined the following combining terms: “congenital toxoplasmosis” or “gestational toxoplasmosis” and “diagnosis” and “blood,” “serum,” “amniotic fluid,” “placenta,” or “colostrum.” We extracted data on true positive, true negative, false positive, and false negative to generate pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). Random-effects models using MetaDTA were used for analysis. Results. Sixty-five articles were included in the study aiming for comparisons (75.4%), diagnosis performance (52.3%), diagnosis improvement (32.3%), or to distinguish acute/chronic infection phases (36.9%). Amniotic fluid (AF) and placenta were used in 36.9% and 10.8% of articles, respectively, targeting parasites and/or T. gondii DNA. Blood was used in 86% of articles for enzymatic assays. Colostrum was used in one article to search for antibodies. In meta-analysis, PCR in AF showed the best performance for CT diagnosis based on the highest summary sensitivity (85.1%) and specificity (99.7%) added to lower magnitude heterogeneity. Conclusion. Most of the assays being researched to diagnose CT are basically the same traditional approaches available for clinical purposes. The range in diagnostic performance and the challenges imposed by CT diagnosis indicate the need to better explore pregnancy samples in search of new possibilities for diagnostic tools. Exploring immunological markers and using bioinformatics tools and T. gondii recombinant antigens should address the research needed for a new generation of diagnostic tools to face these challenges.

show abstract

Performance of Zika Assays in the Context of Toxoplasma gondii, Parvovirus B19, Rubella Virus, and Cytomegalovirus (TORCH) Diagnostic Assays

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARY Infections during pregnancy that may cause congenital abnormalities have been recognized for decades, but their diagnosis is challenging. This was again illustrated with the emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV), highlighting the inherent difficulties in estimating the extent of pre- and postnatal ZIKV complications because of the difficulties in establishing definitive diagnoses. We reviewed the epidemiology, infection kinetics, and diagnostic methods used for Toxoplasma gondii, parvovirus B19, rubella virus, and cytomegalovirus (TORCH) infections and compared the results with current knowledge of ZIKV diagnostic assays to provide a basis for the inclusion of ZIKV in the TORCH complex evaluations. Similarities between TORCH pathogens and ZIKV support inclusion of ZIKV as an emerging TORCH infection. Our review evaluates the diagnostic performance of various TORCH diagnostic assays for maternal screening, fetal screening, and neonatal screening. We show that the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value of TORCH complex pathogens are widely variable, stressing the importance of confirmatory testing and the need for novel techniques for earlier and accurate diagnosis of maternal and congenital infections. In this context it is also important to acknowledge different needs and access to care for different geographic and resource settings.

show abstract

Molecular diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women

Cited by 3 publications

References 15 publications

Seromolecular study on the prevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women referred to a gynecology hospital in Urmia, northwest part of Iran in 2022

Seromolecular study on the prevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women referred to a gynecology hospital in Urmia, northwest part of Iran in 2022

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Congenital Toxoplasmosis Diagnosis: Advances and Challenges

Performance of Zika Assays in the Context of Toxoplasma gondii, Parvovirus B19, Rubella Virus, and Cytomegalovirus (TORCH) Diagnostic Assays

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About