AUTHOR=Murata Fernando Henrique Antunes , Previato Mariana , Frederico Fábio Batista , Barbosa Amanda Pires , Nakashima Fabiana , Faria Geraldo Magela de , Silveira Carvalho Aparecida Perpétuo , Meira Strejevitch Cristina da Silva , Pereira-Chioccola Vera Lucia , Castiglioni Lilian , de Mattos Luiz Carlos , Siqueira Rubens Camargo , Brandão de Mattos Cinara Cássia TITLE=Evaluation of Serological and Molecular Tests Used for the Identification of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Patients Treated in an Ophthalmology Clinic of a Public Health Service in São Paulo State, Brazil JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology VOLUME=9 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2019.00472 DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2019.00472 ISSN=2235-2988 ABSTRACT=

Ocular toxoplasmosis is one of the most common complications caused by the infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. The risk of developing eye lesions and impaired vision is considered higher in Brazil than other countries. The clinical diagnosis is difficult and the use of sensitive and specific laboratorial methods can aid to the correct diagnosis of this infection. We compared serological methods ELISA and ELFA, and molecular cPCR, Nested PCR and qPCR for the diagnosis of T. gondii infection in groups of patients clinically evaluated with ocular diseases non-toxoplasma related (G1 = 185) and with lesions caused by toxoplasmosis (G2 = 164) in an Ophthalmology clinic in Brazil. Results were compared by the Kappa index, and sensitivity (S), specificity (E), positive predictive value (PPV), and negative (NPV) were calculated. Serologic methods were in agreement with ELISA more sensitive and ELFA more specific to characterize the acute and chronic infections while molecular methods were discrepant where qPCR presented higher sensitivity, however, lower specificity when compared to cPCR and Nested PCR.