Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnancy: opportunities and pitfalls of serological diagnosis

Abstract

Because of its life cycle, the recovery of Toxoplasma gondii from biological samples is often impracticable. Consequently, a serological diagnosis represents the first and the most widely used approach to defining the stage of infection. The detection of IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE and IgG avidity by different methods offers this opportunity. However, the results may be affected by difficulties in interpretation, as the same antibody pattern may have a different valency, contingent upon subjects and clinical settings, e.g., pregnant women vs. neonates, and treated vs. untreated patients. This review describes the various factors that should be taken into account when performing serological tests for T. gondii, as well as the pitfalls that may be encountered during the interpretative process.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Community Towards Zoonotic Importance of <i>Toxoplasma</i> Infection in Central Afar Region, North East Ethiopia

“…T. gondii cause Toxoplasmosis which is an important zoonotic disease and responsible for major economic losses in all classes of livestock through abortion, stillbirth and neonatal losses [8,[9][10].Approximately one-third of the human world's population is infected by T. gondii [11,7].…”

Anti-<i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> Antibodies in Haemodialysis Patients

“…Approximately one-third of the world's population is infected by Toxoplasma gondii (Sensini, 2006). Serological studies show a considerable variation in the prevalence of Toxoplasma infection from 0-95% in different parts of the world and indeed between different population groups within the same country (Asthana et al, 2006;Ghorbani et al, 1978;Abu-Zeid, 2002;Fan et al, 2002;Montoya and Remington, 2000).…”

Use of the nested polymerase chain reaction for detection of Toxoplasma gondii in slaughterhouse workers in Thika District, Kenya

“…Serological methods have limitations such as long and laborious test procedures and low sensitivity due to low antibody levels. [20] Detection of T. gondii DNA in blood samples by nPCR, based on the multilocus 529 bp element, was found to be more sensitive than targeting B1 repeat loci, and moreover was highly specific. [10] This finding showed that blood samples can reliably be used as alternative samples for toxoplasmosis studies by PCR, as suggested previously in ocular toxoplasmosis studies.…”