Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Clinical Microbiology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Microbiology
. 1996 Oct;34(10):2368–2371. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.10.2368-2371.1996

Urine sample used for congenital toxoplasmosis diagnosis by PCR.

I Fuentes 1, M Rodriguez 1, C J Domingo 1, F del Castillo 1, T Juncosa 1, J Alvar 1
PMCID: PMC229271  PMID: 8880481

Abstract

The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in congenitally infected infants can be difficult; serology is unreliable, and diagnosis must be based on the combination of symptomatology and direct demonstration of the parasite. Four infants suspected of having Toxoplasma gondii infection were studied by serological analysis, tissue culture, and PCR determination. T. gondii was isolated from the urine of one patient. The parasite was detected by PCR in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of three infants and in the urine in all patients. Because nested PCR proved to be a sensitive, relatively rapid, and specific method and because it can be applied to a variety of different clinical samples, PCR can be a valuable technique for the identification of T. gondii infections in children. The present study indicates that PCR examination of urine, a fluid never before used for diagnosis in this age group, may be valuable in diagnosing cases of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (278.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Acebes M. V., Díez B., Cisterna R. Toxoplasma gondii. Un reto para los noventa. Enferm Infecc Microbiol Clin. 1993 Aug-Sep;11(7):347–351. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barker K. F., Holliman R. E. Laboratory techniques in the investigation of toxoplasmosis. Genitourin Med. 1992 Feb;68(1):55–59. doi: 10.1136/sti.68.1.55. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bretagne S., Costa J. M., Vidaud M., Tran J., Nhieu V., Fleury-Feith J. Detection of Toxoplasma gondii by competitive DNA amplification of bronchoalveolar lavage samples. J Infect Dis. 1993 Dec;168(6):1585–1588. doi: 10.1093/infdis/168.6.1585. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Burg J. L., Grover C. M., Pouletty P., Boothroyd J. C. Direct and sensitive detection of a pathogenic protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, by polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1989 Aug;27(8):1787–1792. doi: 10.1128/jcm.27.8.1787-1792.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Caiaffa W. T., Chiari C. A., Figueiredo A. R., Orefice F., Antunes C. M. Toxoplasmosis and mental retardation--report of a case-control study. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 1993 Apr-Jun;88(2):253–261. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02761993000200013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cristina N., Derouin F., Pelloux H., Pierce R., Cesbron-Delauwn M. F., Ambroise-Thomas P. Détection de Toxoplasma gondii chez des patients sidéens par la technique de "Polymerase Chain Reaction" (PCR), à l'aide de la séquence répétée TGR1E. Pathol Biol (Paris) 1992 Jan;40(1):52–55. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Desmonts G., Daffos F., Forestier F., Capella-Pavlovsky M., Thulliez P., Chartier M. Prenatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis. Lancet. 1985 Mar 2;1(8427):500–504. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)92096-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Dupon M., Cazenave J., Pellegrin J. L., Ragnaud J. M., Cheyrou A., Fischer I., Leng B., Lacut J. Y. Detection of Toxoplasma gondii by PCR and tissue culture in cerebrospinal fluid and blood of human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive patients. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Sep;33(9):2421–2426. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.9.2421-2426.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dupouy-Camet J., de Souza S. L., Maslo C., Paugam A., Saimot A. G., Benarous R., Tourte-Schaefer C., Derouin F. Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in venous blood from AIDS patients by polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Jul;31(7):1866–1869. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.7.1866-1869.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Forestier F., Daffos F., Hohlfeld P., Lynch L. Les foetopathies infectieuses. Prévention, diagnostic prénatal, attitude pratique. Presse Med. 1991 Sep 28;20(30):1448–1454. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Foudrinier F., Marx-Chemla C., Aubert D., Bonhomme A., Pinon J. M. Value of specific immunoglobulin A detection by two immunocapture assays in the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1995 Jul;14(7):585–590. doi: 10.1007/BF01690729. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gross U., Roggenkamp A., Janitschke K., Heesemann J. Improved sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction for detection of Toxoplasma gondii in biological and human clinical specimens. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 1992 Jan;11(1):33–39. doi: 10.1007/BF01971268. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Grover C. M., Thulliez P., Remington J. S., Boothroyd J. C. Rapid prenatal diagnosis of congenital Toxoplasma infection by using polymerase chain reaction and amniotic fluid. J Clin Microbiol. 1990 Oct;28(10):2297–2301. doi: 10.1128/jcm.28.10.2297-2301.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Guay J. M., Dubois D., Morency M. J., Gagnon S., Mercier J., Levesque R. C. Detection of the pathogenic parasite Toxoplasma gondii by specific amplification of ribosomal sequences using comultiplex polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1993 Feb;31(2):203–207. doi: 10.1128/jcm.31.2.203-207.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hall S. M. Congenital toxoplasmosis. BMJ. 1992 Aug 1;305(6848):291–297. doi: 10.1136/bmj.305.6848.291. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hedman K., Lappalainen M., Seppäiä I., Mäkelä O. Recent primary toxoplasma infection indicated by a low avidity of specific IgG. J Infect Dis. 1989 Apr;159(4):736–740. doi: 10.1093/infdis/159.4.736. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hitt J. A., Filice G. A. Detection of Toxoplasma gondii parasitemia by gene amplification, cell culture, and mouse inoculation. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Dec;30(12):3181–3184. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.12.3181-3184.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Hohlfeld P., Daffos F., Costa J. M., Thulliez P., Forestier F., Vidaud M. Prenatal diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis with a polymerase-chain-reaction test on amniotic fluid. N Engl J Med. 1994 Sep 15;331(11):695–699. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199409153311102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hohlfeld P., Daffos F., Thulliez P., Aufrant C., Couvreur J., MacAleese J., Descombey D., Forestier F. Fetal toxoplasmosis: outcome of pregnancy and infant follow-up after in utero treatment. J Pediatr. 1989 Nov;115(5 Pt 1):765–769. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(89)80660-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Khalifa K el-S, Roth A., Roth B., Arasteh K. N., Janitschke K. Value of PCR for evaluating occurrence of parasitemia in immunocompromised patients with cerebral and extracerebral toxoplasmosis. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Nov;32(11):2813–2819. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.11.2813-2819.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Lappalainen M., Koskela P., Koskiniemi M., Ammälä P., Hiilesmaa V., Teramo K., Raivio K. O., Remington J. S., Hedman K. Toxoplasmosis acquired during pregnancy: improved serodiagnosis based on avidity of IgG. J Infect Dis. 1993 Mar;167(3):691–697. doi: 10.1093/infdis/167.3.691. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Lavrard I., Chouaid C., Roux P., Poirot J. L., Marteau M., Lemarchand B., Meyohas M. C., Olivier J. L. Pulmonary toxoplasmosis in HIV-infected patients: usefulness of polymerase chain reaction and cell culture. Eur Respir J. 1995 May;8(5):697–700. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Liesenfeld O., Roth A., Weinke T., Foss H. D., Hahn H. A case of disseminated toxoplasmosis-value of PCR for the diagnosis. J Infect. 1994 Sep;29(2):133–138. doi: 10.1016/s0163-4453(94)90578-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. McAuley J., Boyer K. M., Patel D., Mets M., Swisher C., Roizen N., Wolters C., Stein L., Stein M., Schey W. Early and longitudinal evaluations of treated infants and children and untreated historical patients with congenital toxoplasmosis: the Chicago Collaborative Treatment Trial. Clin Infect Dis. 1994 Jan;18(1):38–72. doi: 10.1093/clinids/18.1.38. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Ostergaard L., Nielsen A. K., Black F. T. DNA amplification on cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis among HIV-positive patients with signs or symptoms of neurological disease. Scand J Infect Dis. 1993;25(2):227–237. doi: 10.3109/00365549309008489. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Pallás Alonso C. R., Gómez Castillo E. Infección congénita: aspectos actuales. An Esp Pediatr. 1993 Feb;38(2):99–106. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Tarlow M. J. Epidemiology of neonatal infections. J Antimicrob Chemother. 1994 Aug;34 (Suppl A):43–52. doi: 10.1093/jac/34.suppl_a.43. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Verhofstede C., Sabbe L., Van Renterghem L. Ability of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays to detect early immunoglobulin G antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii. Eur J Clin Microbiol. 1987 Apr;6(2):147–151. doi: 10.1007/BF02018196. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Weiss J. B. DNA probes and PCR for diagnosis of parasitic infections. Clin Microbiol Rev. 1995 Jan;8(1):113–130. doi: 10.1128/cmr.8.1.113. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. van de Ven E., Melchers W., Galama J., Camps W., Meuwissen J. Identification of Toxoplasma gondii infections by BI gene amplification. J Clin Microbiol. 1991 Oct;29(10):2120–2124. doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.10.2120-2124.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES