Abstract
Toxoplasmosis is the most prevalent zoonosis in the world and is associated with a large spectrum of diseases. Acute acquired toxoplasmosis (AAT) is considered a benign and self-limiting disease but severe postnatal infections have been reported, particularly in South America. Laboratory diagnosis is based on the detection of anti–Toxoplasma gondii IgM, IgG, and presence of low IgG avidity. However, these assays present limitations, and therefore, PCR has been suggested as an alternative diagnostic tool. In this study, we performed real-time and nested PCR in DNA blood samples from 59 individuals with AAT lasting less than 80 days. None of the patients had parasitic DNA detected by PCR, even in the more severe cases or when blood was collected early after disease onset. These negative results indicate that the parasitemia kinetics needs investigation to determine the best time for blood sampling, especially in immunocompetent individuals. Thus, we emphasize that a negative PCR result does not exclude recent T. gondii infection, and serological criteria are still decisive for the laboratory diagnosis of AAT.
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Data availability
Data reported in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Dr. Octávio Fernandes from the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz for the helpful discussion and suggestions, and the Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing, and the patients for participating in this study.
Funding
L.C.G. received grants from the Research Incentive Program of the Instituto Fernandes Figueira (PIP I), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.
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E.S.N designed the study, examined all patients, collected data from clinical records and the consent from patients, and wrote the manuscript; O.M.E. handled blood samples and contributed to manuscript writing; A.C. performed the ophthalmological examination in all patients; D.N.R. and L.H.F.G. performed PCR assays; O.F., M.R.A., and L.C.G. performed critical revision of the manuscript. All authors agreed with the final version of the manuscript.
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This study was approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research of the Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, under the protocol number CAAE 0046.0.009.000-11.
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Neves, E.S., Espíndola, O.M., Curi, A. et al. PCR-based diagnosis is not always useful in the acute acquired toxoplasmosis in immunocompetent individuals. Parasitol Res 120, 763–767 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-07022-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-07022-6