Recent trends in the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most widely prevalent cyst forming apicomplexan parasite present worldwide. Felines serve as definitive hosts, while all non-feline vertebrates including humans, act as intermediate hosts of the parasite. There are several serological tests available for the detection of T. gondii antibodies such as the dye test (DT), indirect haemagglutination test (IHA), complement fixation test (CFT), modified agglutination test (MAT), latex agglutination test (LAT), indirect immunofluorescent test (IFAT) and direct agglutination test (DAT). The dye test once considered as gold standard is seldom used nowadays, owing to potent hazardous effects because of involvement of live tachyzoites. Of late, enzyme linked immune sorbent assays (ELISA) have gained a lot of utility in diagnosing toxoplasmosis.Other than serological tests, bioassays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assays and histopathologies are also used. The various tests used for diagnosis of toxoplasmosis, along with various molecules being employed, coupled with their advantages and limitations, are described and discussed in detail in the present review.

Toxoplasma Serostatus in Thai Free- Range Chickens: Prevalence and Two Diagnostic Methods

“…Those techniques are, however, present with some limitations for diagnosing toxoplasma infection [27]. Such as IFAT requires special equipment or appropriate anti-species serum.…”

Effective Diagnostic Marker for Serodiagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii Infection: New Developments and Perspectives

“…Various direct and indirect detection methods have been established to detect T. gondii infectious agent or anti-Toxoplasma antibodies [4]. In particular, different sets of detection methods have also been developed and evaluated to achieve accurate diagnosis [5].…”

“…In particular, different sets of detection methods have also been developed and evaluated to achieve accurate diagnosis [5]. There are several diagnostic approaches which are applicable to detect the parasitic agents include: histological identification, isolation of the organism in tissue culture [4], and recovery of the parasite DNA by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [6,7] or by a combination of these techniques, whereas the serodiagnostic tests are mainly designated to detect the different classes of antibodies or antigens [8].…”

“…In general, the advantages of ELISA test are as follows: it shows high sensitivity which allows quantitative and semi-quantitative antibody measurements, automatically adopted and is inexpensive [26]. Furthermore, the assay is simple and easy to carry out and can be used to investigate a large number of serum samples in a short period of time [4]. Moreover, it can be used to detect both IgG and IgM antibodies [25].…”

“…Currently, most commercial serological kits use crude Toxoplasma antigens prepared through mouse passages or cell culture systems [29,30]. The soluble native antigen of T. gondii parasite has been applied as a diagnostic marker in various seroepidemiological studies [4], a researcher used crude native antigen of type I and II, for example [1]. Crude T. gondii tachyzoite antigen applied in an indirect ELISA yielded sensitivity and specificity of 95.75 and 85.11%, respectively [31].…”