Fitness of Toxoplasma gondii is not related to DHFR single-nucleotide polymorphism during congenital toxoplasmosis

International Journal for Parasitology
F PeyronStéphane Picot

Abstract

Factors that regulate the pathogenesis of Toxoplasma gondii in humans are poorly understood. When acquired during pregnancy, toxoplasmosis can be disastrous, leading to fetal loss or conversely to subclinical disease. In congenitally infected infants, evolution is highly unpredictable. Genotype based virulence patterns have been described in mice, but in humans this classification does not correlate with the gravity of the disease. Mutations on DHFR-TS loci have recently been reported to confer T. gondii fitness cost. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the virulence of the parasite, as measured by clinical outcome in the fetus or newborn, fitness, as measured by parasitic load in amniotic fluid, and allelic polymorphism in DHFR. Six cases of severe congenital toxoplasmosis and 23 cases of mild congenital infections were included in the study. Quantitative PCR was performed to evaluate total T. gondii DNA load in amniotic fluid and detection of mutations was carried out with a LightCycler using hybridisation probes. Parasitic load was significantly higher in severe infections than in mild diseases. Among isolates from severe or non-severe cases of congenital toxoplasmosis, no polymorphism could be detected a...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 24, 2008·Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy·Pascale MeneceurFrancis Derouin
Mar 14, 2007·International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents·Sonimar NateraAlicia Ponte-Sucre
Feb 27, 2007·Seminars in Fetal & Neonatal Medicine·Eskild Petersen
Apr 4, 2007·Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy·Eskild Petersen

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