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Humoral immune responses in chickens and turkeys after infection with Toxoplasma gondii by using recombinant antigens

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Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite which can be transmitted to humans via the consumption of contaminated meat products derived from different animal species, e.g., poultry. In Europe, the consumption rate of poultry meat is high and may pose a risk for humans. However, little is known about the prevalence and immune response against T. gondii in these animals. Based on these circumstances, we experimentally infected 18 turkeys and 16 chickens with the parasite. Turkeys were infected either with tachyzoites on different routes or with various amounts of oocysts. In contrast, chickens were only infected with different doses of oocysts. The immunoglobulin (Ig) Y humoral immune responses of these animals were investigated in a lineblot assay against the recombinant T. gondii antigens rGRA1, rGRA6, rGRA9, rSAG1, and rSUB1. By using the recombinant antigens rGRA6, rGRA9, and rSUB1 in the lineblot assay, we found a correlation between the humoral immune response and the parasite stage in turkeys. Thereby, an infection with oocysts induced a stronger, permanent long-lasting antibody response compared to tachyzoite-infected animals. Only a minor relation between the oocyst infection dose and the manifestation of the immune response in chickens was found 7 days post infection (dpi) by using rGRA1 and rGRA9. However, an inconstant detection of antigen-specific IgY antibodies in the lineblot assay seems not to be a sufficient method for the identification of a Toxoplasma infection in chickens. In contrast, the detection of anti-rGRA6, anti-rGRA9, and anti-rSUB1 IgY antibodies showed potential for the identification of an infection in turkeys.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by grants from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the TOXONET consortium (grant numbers 01 KI0766 and 01 KI1002B to U.G.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075, Göttingen, Germany

    Andrea Hotop & Uwe Groß

  2. Institute for Parasitology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany

    Susanne Buschtöns & Astrid M. Tenter

  3. Institute of Parasitology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Berit Bangoura & Birte Zöller

  4. Institute of Food Hygiene, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Martin Koethe

  5. Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Katrin Spekker-Bosker & Walter Däubener

  6. Unit of Infection Models, German Primate Center, Göttingen, Germany

    Sven-Kevin Hotop

  7. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, LMU, Munich, Germany

    Reinhard K. Straubinger

Authors
  1. Andrea Hotop
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  2. Susanne Buschtöns
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  3. Berit Bangoura
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  4. Birte Zöller
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  5. Martin Koethe
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  6. Katrin Spekker-Bosker
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  7. Sven-Kevin Hotop
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  8. Astrid M. Tenter
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  9. Walter Däubener
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  10. Reinhard K. Straubinger
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  11. Uwe Groß
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Correspondence to Andrea Hotop.

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Hotop, A., Buschtöns, S., Bangoura, B. et al. Humoral immune responses in chickens and turkeys after infection with Toxoplasma gondii by using recombinant antigens. Parasitol Res 113, 1473–1480 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3788-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-014-3788-x

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