| Autor: |
Miura AC; Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil., Barros LD; Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil., Minutti AF; Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil., Martins TA; Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil., Sasse JP; Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil., Nino BSL; Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil., Garcia JL; Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Laboratório de Protozoologia Animal, Universidade Estadual de Londrina - UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil. |
| Abstrakt: |
Felines are definitive hosts of Toxoplasma gondii and can shed oocysts in their feces, contaminating the environment. Sporulated oocysts are highly resistant to the environment and have higher infectivity, which are attributed to many toxoplasmosis outbreaks. The aim of the present study was to evaluate a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technique for the detection of T. gondii oocysts shed by cats. Twelve cats from a previous vaccine experiment were challenged orally with 600 cysts of the TgDoveBr8 strain on day 72. Fecal samples were collected daily using the centrifugal flotation technique, with microscopic examination (Sheather technique) and qPCR for 20 days after the challenge. Cats from all groups shed oocysts in their feces. Five negative cats in the Sheather were positive according to qPCR on the 3rd day post-inoculation (dpi). Oocysts were detected on the 4th dpi using the Sheather; however, there was no statistical difference between the two methods (p=0.1116). In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in oocyst shedding between the groups according to the Sheather technique (p=0.6534) and qPCR (p=0.9670). In conclusion, these results demonstrate that qPCR can be used as an alternative to the Sheather to detect and quantify T. gondii oocysts. |
