Seroepidemiological analysis of toxoplasmosis in college students

Abstract

BackgroundToxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by an obligate intracellular parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, which affects warm-blooded animals including humans. Its prevalence rates usually vary in different regions of the planet.MethodsIn this study, an analysis of the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis among Brazilian students was proposed by means of IgG specific antibodies detection. The presence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) was also evaluated in order to compare it with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and to assess the use of 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) and o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride chromogens.ResultsThe IFAT method showed a seroprevalence of 22.3%. These results were similar to those obtained by ELISA (24.1%). The seroprevalence was directly estimated from the IgG avidity, which showed that in a sample of 112 students, three of them had acute infection, an incidence of 1.6% in the studied population.ConclusionIn this study, the use of different chromogenic substrates in immunoenzymatic ELISA assays did not display different sensitivity in the detection of T. gondii-reagent serum. The extrapolation of results to this population must be carefully considered, since the investigation was conducted on a reduced sample. However, it allows us to emphasize the importance of careful and well prepared studies to identify risk factors for toxoplasmosis, to adopt preventive measures and to offer guidance to at-risk populations about the disease.

Seroepidemiology and Risk Factors of Toxoplasma gondii Infection among the Newly Enrolled Undergraduates and Postgraduate Students in China

“…Here, we only focused young students before university. It was reported that the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in students was 3.2% in São Paulo State University (UNESP), in Assis, São Paulo state, Brazil ( Rodrigues et al, 2015 ), which was higher than the infection rate in this study. Moreover, the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection varied in different geographical areas with a general tendency of lower infection rate in the Northern region of Yangtze River (1.44%) and higher infection rate in the Southern region of Yangtze River (4.62%) ( Table 1 ).…”

Impact of Bee Venom Enzymes on Diseases and Immune Responses

“…As a ubiquitous enzyme, Hya is expressed in a wide range of organisms and human tissues. Hya in higher vertebrates is associated with a wide range of physiological and pathological processes, such as fertilization, wound healing, embryonic development, angiogenesis, diffusion of drugs and toxins, metastatic mechanisms, inflammatory manifestations and meningitis [ 60 ]. Nevertheless, the full potentiality of BV hyaluronidase has not been explored.…”

Evaluation of serological and molecular tests used to identify Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women attended in a public health service in São Paulo state, Brazil

“…The low specificity of IgG antibodies is mainly related to high rates of seroprevalence in the region covered by this study and the life-long permanence of these antibodies in the host, even without the disease, as demonstrated in studies of individuals without clinical symptoms (Fromont et al, 2009;Obaidat et al, 2015;Rodrigues et al, 2015).…”