Genotypic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii samples isolated from slaughterhouse ovines

• Grant number: 06/02486-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2006
• End date: November 30, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Helio Langoni
• Grantee: Rodrigo Costa da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite with a great importance in the context of animal production and public health, involving fetal alterations and abortions in humans and animals, being also an important opportunist pathogen in immunocompromised patients. It has a predominant population structure of lineages designated I, II and III. The transmission of the parasite by food has been characterized as high risk to human health. In ovine species, it has been considered as a significant agent causing abortions, beyond of presenting a potential risk of infection by food derived from ovines, higher than from swines. Blood, brain, lung, tongue, diaphragm and heart samples of ovines destined to slaughter will be collected in a municipal slaughterhouse of São Manuel-SP. The sera samples will be submitted to serological tests like modified agglutination test, with antigen inactivated for methanol (MAT-AM) or formalin (MAT-AF), allowing the differentiation between the stages of Toxoplasma infection, and indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). The tissue samples of the seropositive animals will be processed and part of them will be submitted to the digestion for pepsin, inoculating the digested or non-digested materials in mice to the isolation of the parasite. The genotyping of the isolated samples will be realized through the analysis of the techniques of the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP-PCR) of SAG2 gene, and multiplex-PCR, in five loci (TUB2, W35, TgM-A, B18 and B17). Thus, we aimed to isolate and to characterize genotypically samples of T.gondii isolated from ovines slaughtered to human consumption; to detect the stage of the infection at the moment of the slaughter of the animal, by the comparison of the serological tests; and to compare the profiles of genotyping obtained in RFLP-PCR of SAG2 gene and multiplex-PCR.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DA SILVA, RODRIGO COSTA; LANGONI, HELIO. Toxoplasma gondii: host-parasite interaction and behavior manipulation. Parasitology Research, v. 105, n. 4, p. 893-898, OCT 2009. (06/07198-7, 06/02486-4)

DA SILVA, RODRIGO COSTA; SU, CHUNLEI; LANGONI, HELIO. First identification of Sarcocystis tenella (Railliet, 1886) Moule, 1886 (Protozoa: Apicomplexa) by PCR in naturally infected sheep from Brazil. Veterinary Parasitology, v. 165, n. 3-4, p. 332-336, NOV 12 2009. (06/07198-7, 06/02486-4)

DA SILVA, RODRIGO COSTA; LANGONI, HELIO; SU, CHUNLEI; DA SILVA, ARISTEU VIEIRA. Genotypic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in sheep from Brazilian slaughterhouses: New atypical genotypes and the clonal type II strain identified. Veterinary Parasitology, v. 175, n. 1-2, p. 173-177, JAN 10 2011. (06/07198-7, 06/02486-4)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SILVA, Rodrigo Costa da. Caracterização genotípica de amaostras de Toxoplasma gondii isoladas de ovinos de abatedouro. 2009. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia. Botucatu Botucatu.