Molecular genotyping and serological evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii in mothers and their spontaneous aborted fetuses in Southwest of Iran

Arefkhah, Nasir; Pourabbas, Bahman; Asgari, Qasem; Moshfe, Abdolali; Mikaeili, Fattaneh; Nikbakht, Gordafarin; Sarkari, Bahador

doi:10.1016/j.cimid.2019.101342

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Despite the ubiquity of T. gondii infections, the presence of comprehensive multi-locus studies investigating the T. gondii genetic diversity in household cats and their cat owners are lacking. However, most studies in Iran have reported the T. gondii genotype of different hosts or soil isolates based on the analysis of one or two loci (43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50). In limited studies performed on household cats, in Switzerland, mixed infections with types I and II in the only positive sample, and in Germany, type II (83.8%) and type III (1.4%) have been reported in household cats (35,51).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara cati Among Stray and Household Cats and Cat Owners in Tehran, Iran

et al. 2022

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Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara spp. are the most critical parasites common between humans and cats. The close association of cats with humans in urban areas persuaded us to investigate the prevalence of these parasites in stray and household cats and their possible role in the owners' infection. Herein, 132 and 33 fecal samples of stray and household cats, respectively, and 33 blood samples of their owners were collected in Tehran, Iran. The prevalence of T. gondii was determined by targeting the B1 gene in the feces of stray and household cats and the blood of cat owners. Furthermore, genotypes of T. gondii were identified based on the multilocus genotyping of BTUB, GRA6, SAG3, and APICO loci. Toxocara spp. were detected by targeting the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of the ribosomal DNA of these parasites in the cats' feces and the humans' blood. Also, Toxocara IgG was assessed in the human serum samples. The B1 gene amplification showed that 15.2% of stray cats, 18.2% of household cats, and 51.5% of cat owners were infected with T. gondii. The multilocus sequence analysis revealed the predominance of genotype I of T. gondii in stray cats and genotype II of T. gondii in household cats and cat owners. The amplifying of ITS-2 revealed a high prevalence of T. cati infection (47.0%) in stray cats, whereas no infection was found in the feces of household cats or the serum of cat owners. Likewise, Toxocara IgG was not detected in the serum of humans. The lower prevalence of T. gondii in stray/household cats than in the cat owners indicates the limited impact of close contact with infected cats in human toxoplasmosis. However, the high prevalence of T. cati infection in stray cats can cause contamination of the environment by excreting eggs that may lead to infecting humans through soil or water. Therefore, public health education in urban management planning is necessary for routine urban cat deworming programs and for training the healthcare workers to prevent, control, and treat these infections.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara cati Among Stray and Household Cats and Cat Owners in Tehran, Iran

et al. 2022

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“…In the fetal analysis, isolated genotype #10 was a high pathogenicity strain, which has been mainly observed in Asia [ 20 ]. However, Type I was recognized in ovine aborted fetuses in Qazvin and Fars provinces, Iran [ 58 , 59 ]. It is noteworthy that genotype #27, which is closely related to the clonal Type I of the TgAbIr14 and TgAbIr22, was recovered previously from a bird and cat in South America (Table 2 ) [ 10 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in meat-producing animals in Iran

et al. 2022

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Background The consumption of uncooked or undercooked food from infected intermediate hosts can result in Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans. However, few studies have investigated the genetic diversity of this protozoan parasite in Iran. The aim of the present study was to genetically characterize isolates of T. gondii from intermediate host animals in Mazandaran Province, Iran. Methods Blood and heart tissue samples were collected from 204 ruminants, and brain tissue was collected from 335 birds. The prevalence of T. gondii infection in these samples was determined serologically using the modified agglutination test and by conventional PCR assays. Those PCR samples positive for T. gondii DNA and 13 DNA samples extracted from aborted fetuses in a previous study were genotyped with 12 genetic markers using the multilocus-nested PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (Mn-PCR–RFLP) technique. Results Antibodies for parasites were found in 35.7% of the ruminant (39.1% of sheep and 26.4% of goats) samples and in 51.3% of the bird (100% of geese, 52.3% of free-range chickens and 46% of ducks) samples. Molecular detection by PCR of the repetitive 529-bp DNA fragment revealed contamination of 13.2% of ruminant (14.6% of sheep and 9.4% of goats) samples and of 9.6% of bird (11.1% of chickens, 5.7% of ducks and 0% of geese samples). The results from 30 DNA samples revealed five ToxoDB (genome database for the genus Toxoplasma) PCR–RFLP genotypes, including #1 (Type II), #2 (Type III), #10 (Type I), #27 and #48, with genotype #1 the most predominant. Conclusions As evidenced by the results of this study, ruminants and birds are infected with T. gondii in the region, suggesting that they are likely to be involved in the transmission of T. gondii to humans through meat consumption. The identification of different genotypes may suggest a higher genetic diversity of this parasite in Mazandaran, reflecting local environmental contamination. These results have important public health implications for the prevention and control strategies of infection. Graphical Abstract

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“…Toxoplasma's tropism for the brain underlies the parasite's ability to cause debilitating neurologic disease in the immunocompromised patients. The infection most often involves the nervous system, with diffuse encephalopathy, meningoencephalitis or cerebral mass lesions (Sarkari et al 2014;Arefkhah et al 2019;Saadat et al 2020). In humans, increasing tachyzoites were consistently found in glial cells, Purkinje cell in the cerebellum and in astrocytes cell of patients who had developed toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) (Powell et al 1978;Bertoli et al 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of association of Toxoplasma gondii infection with brain tumors in Southern Iran: A case-control study

Arefkhah

Asgari

Rajabi

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Considerable evidence points to a dominant role of inflammation in the tumor pathology. The biological response of the immune system can be triggered by Toxoplasma gondii as a common brain-tropic parasite. The aim of this study was to investigate an association between Toxoplasma infection and brain tumors. This case-control study was performed on sera of brain tumor patients (n=124) and age- and sex-matched control subjects (n=124) in Southern Iran. Data related to tumor site and type were collected during sample collection. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Seroprevalence anti-Toxoplasma IgG was significantly higher in brain tumor patients 30.6% (38/124) compared with 12.1% (15/124) of the healthy controls (OR 3.211; 95% CI 1.658 to 6.219; p=0.001). The highest seroprevalence was detected in patients with ependymoma (100%), followed by glioblastoma (83%), pituitary adenoma (47.3%), astrocytoma (27.2%), schwannoma (23%), and meningioma (22.6%). The parasite infection was correlated to brain tumor’s location i.e., the patients with frontal lobe and sella region tumors had higher seropositivity compared with others (P<0.05). The higher prevalence of Toxoplasma infection among patients with brain tumor compared with the control group indicates a probable association between the infection and brain tumors.

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Molecular genotyping and serological evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii in mothers and their spontaneous aborted fetuses in Southwest of Iran

Cited by 18 publications

References 29 publications

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara cati Among Stray and Household Cats and Cat Owners in Tehran, Iran

Prevalence and Molecular Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara cati Among Stray and Household Cats and Cat Owners in Tehran, Iran

Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in meat-producing animals in Iran

Evidence of association of Toxoplasma gondii infection with brain tumors in Southern Iran: A case-control study

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