Background and objectives: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is a ubiquitous apicomplexan parasite. As an obligate intracellular parasite, T. gondii must invade host cells to survive and replicate. Five cathepsin proteases are encoded in the genome of T. gondii, cathepsin L like protein, cathepsin B like protein, and three cathepsin C like proteins. The present study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of toxoplasmosis among women in Erbil, and to study the role of cathepsin B and cathepsin L genes in the pathogenesis of toxoplasmosis as well as their role as risk factors for abnormal pregnancy outcome. Methods: This is a cross sectional study was carried out in Erbil from October 2018 to March 2019. A total of 230 women at their reproductive age and who attended Maternity Teaching Hospital and Nazdar Bamarni primary Health Center were enrolled. Anti- toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies were detected by cobas 6000. Toxoplasma cathepsin B and cathepsin L – like genes were selected to be targets in PCR. Results: Anti-toxoplasma IgG and IgM were seropositive in 105 (45.7%) and 18 (7.8%) women, respectively. Of those women who were seropositive for toxoplasmosis, only 15(6.5%) of them were carrying both anti-toxoplasma IgG and IgM. No significant association of toxoplasmosis and educational level, socioeconomic level, age, history of abortion, abnormal baby birth weight were observed. PCR targeting cathepsin L was more sensitive to be used in the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Conclusion: Sero-prevalence of toxoplasmosis is relatively high in Erbil and cathepsin L gene is an efficient target for PCR and could be used as risk factor for abnormal pregnancy outcome.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.