Seroprevalence of toxoplasma-specific antibodies in patients suspected to have active toxoplasmosis: A cross-sectional survey

Eskandarian, Abbas Ali; Jafarnezghad, Gholam-Abbas; Akbari, Mojtaba

Seroprevalence of toxoplasma-specific antibodies in patients suspected to have active toxoplasmosis: A cross-sectional survey

Authors

¹ Department of Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

² Department of Epidemiology, School of Health and Nutrition, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and distribution of anti-toxoplasma-specific IgM and IgG tantibodies in patients suspected to have toxoplasmosis and investigate for any association between IgM and IgG antibodies and some toxoplasmosis risk factors as well.
Materials and Methods: In a comparative cross-sectional study, 70 patients suspected to had active toxoplasmosis and 30 control volunteers, who gave informed consent, entered the study. In each group, patient age, sex, signs of appearance, education level, residency status (urban / rural), occupation, frequency of toxoplasma-specific IgG and IgM antibodies, abortion history, and some risk factors (Direct cat exposure, Occupational exposure to raw meat, and Raw vegetable consumption) were recorded. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (EUROIMMUN^®, United Kingdom) were used for the evaluation of anti-toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies according to the manufacturer›s instructions. All analyses were done using SPSS-20.
Results: The frequency of toxoplasma-specific IgG and IgM antibodies like: Direct cat exposures, Occupational exposure to raw meat, and Raw vegetable consumption were not statistically significant between the two groups (P > 0.05). The history of previous abortions in women in the toxoplasmosis-suspected group was significantly higher than that in the controls (31.4% versus 6.7%; P = 0.009).
Conclusion: The frequency of specific IgM and IgG antibodies in toxoplasmosis suspected in the toxoplasmosis and control groups was not statistically significant.

Keywords

References

1.	Montoya JG, Liesenfeld O. Toxoplasmosis. Lancet 2004;363:1965-76.
2.	Amerizadeh A, Khoo BY, Teh AY, Golkar M, Abdul Karim IZ, Osman S, et al. Identification and real-time expression analysis of selected Toxoplasma gondii in-vivo induced antigens recognized by IgG and IgM in sera of acute toxoplasmosis patients. BMC Infect Dis 2013;13:287.
3.	Gebremedhin EZ, Abebe AH, Tessema TS, Tullu KD, Medhin G, Vitale M, et al. Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in women of child-bearing age in central Ethiopia. BMC Infect Dis 2013;13:101.
4.	Ebrahimzadeh A, Mohammadi S, Salimi-Khorashad A, Jamshidi A. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasmosis among pregnant women referring to the reference laboratory of Zahedan, Iran. Zahedan J Res Med Sci 2013;15:32-5.
5.	Nowakowska D, Wujcicka W, Sobala W, Spiewak E, Gaj Z, Wilczyn´ski J. Age-associated prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in 8281 pregnant women in Poland between 2004 and 2012. Epidemiol Infect 2014;142:656-61.
6.	Nowakowska D, Colón I, Remington JS, Grigg M, Golab E, Wilczynski J, et al. Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii by multiplex PCR and peptide-based serological testing of samples from infants in Poland diagnosed with congenital toxoplasmosis. J Clin Microbiol 2006;44:1382-9.
7.	Asgari Q, Fekri M, Monabati A, Kalantary M, Mohammadpour I, Motazedian MH, et al. Molecular Genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in human spontaneous aborted fetuses in Shiraz, Southern Iran. Iran J Public Health 2013;42:620-5.
8.	Kapperud G, Jenum PA, Stray-Pedersen B, Melby KK, Eskild A, Eng J. Risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnancy. Results of a prospective case-control study in Norway. Am J Epidemiol 1996;144:405-12.
9.	Holec-Gasior L. Toxoplasma gondii recombinant antigens as tools for serodiagnosis of human toxoplasmosis: Current status of studies. Clin Vaccine Immunol 2013;20:1343-51.
10.	Gautam B, Singh G, Singh S. Virtual screening of threonine synthase as a target for antimicrobial resistance in Toxoplasma gondii. Elixir Appl Biology 2012;48:9542-5.
11.	Pratama DA, Artama WT. Analysis of Toxoplasma gondii Repeat Region 529 bp (NCBI Acc. No. AF146527) as a probe candidate for molecular diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Indones J Biotechnol 2013;14:1124-1131
12.	Uttah E, Ogban E, Okonofua C. Toxoplasmosis: A global infection, so widespread, so neglected. IJSRP 2013;3:1-6.
13.	Edwards JF, Dubey JP. Toxoplasma gondii abortion storm in sheep on a Texas farm and isolation of mouse virulent atypical genotype T. gondii from an aborted lamb from a chronically infected ewe. Vet Parasitol 2013;192:129-36.
14.	Heidari H, Gharekhani J, Tavoosidana G. Role of toxoplasmosis in abortion of ewes in western Iran: A serological study. Sci Parasitol 2013;14:99-103.
15.	Habibi G, Imani A, Gholami M, Hablolvarid M, Behroozikhah A, Lotfi M, et al. Detection and identification of Toxoplasma gondii type one infection in sheep aborted fetuses in Qazvin province of Iran. Iran J Parasitol 2012;7:64-72.
16.	Garcia JL, Gennari SM, Machado RZ, Navarro IT. Toxoplasma gondii: Detection by mouse bioassay, histopathology, and polymerase chain reaction in tissues from experimentally infected pigs. Exp Parasitol 2006;113:267-71.
17.	da Silva AV, Langoni H. The detection of Toxoplasma gondii by comparing cytology, histopathology, bioassay in mice, and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Vet Parasitol 2001;97:191-8.
18.	Remington JS, Thulliez P, Montoya JG. Recent developments for diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. J Clin Microbiol 2004;42:941-5.
19.	Costa JM, Ernault P, Gautier E, Bretagne S. Prenatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis by duplex real-time PCR using fluorescence resonance energy transfer hybridization probes. Prenat Diagn 2001;21:85-8.
20.	Costa JM, Pautas C, Ernault P, Foulet F, Cordonnier C, Bretagne S. Real-time PCR for diagnosis and follow-up of Toxoplasma reactivation after allogeneic stem cell transplantation using fluorescence resonance energy transfer hybridization probes. J Clin Microbiol 2000;38:2929-32.
21.	Reis MM, Tessaro MM, D'azevedo PA. Toxoplasma-IgM and IgG-avidity in single samples from areas with a high infection rate can determine the risk of mother-to-child transmission. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo 2006;48:93-8.
22.	Montoya JG. Laboratory diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infection and toxoplasmosis. J Infect Dis 2002;185(Suppl 1):S73-82.
23.	Hedman K, Lappalainen M, Seppäiä I, Mäkelä O. Recent primary toxoplasma infection indicated by a low avidity of specific IgG. J Infect Dis 1989;159:736-40.
24.	Turunen H, Vuorio K, Leinikki PO. Determination of IgG, IgM and IgA antibody responses in human toxoplasmosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Scand J Infect Dis 1983;15:307-11.
25.	Saraei M, Shahnazi M, Jahanihashemi H, Khabbaz F, Alizadeh SA, Mohammad-Hosseine S. Interlaboratory and interkit evaluation of ELISA test for detection of specific IgG antibodies of Toxoplasma gondii. J Mazandaran Univ Med Sci 2010;20:2-7.

Advanced Biomedical Research