Molecular diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women.

BACKGROUND: Novel approaches in the diagnostics of T. gondii have enabled a detection of the parasite in the amniotic fluid or blood of pregnant women. OBJECTIVE: The high titres of IgM and IgG antibodies against T. gondii are not always indicative of the presence of this parasite in pregnant women, therefore the molecular assays can be used to diagnose and genetically characterise T. gondii in amniotic fluids and blood samples. METHODS: The study analysed 15 samples of amniotic fluid and 1 sample of the blood from pregnant women suspected for toxoplasmosis. The serological ELISA test was used for the immunological study and molecular analyses, PCR at SAG2 locus followed by RFLP analysis were used for Toxoplasma gondii genotyping. CONCLUSION: Using PCR assay with TGR1E gene we have confirmed the presence of T. gondii in the blood of a pregnant woman. The parasite was typed as genotype I, belonging to virulent strains (Tab. 1, Fig. 2, Ref. 30).