Comparison of three diagnostic methods for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii in free range chickens

摘要

Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in free range chickens is an indicator of theprevalence and distribution pattern of T. gondii in the environment. For this purpose, serologicassays especially modified agglutination test (MAT) is the main approach in the literature.The main goal of this study was to compare the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based onamplification of first internal transcribed spacer (ITS-1) of ribosomal DNA gene, ELISA, andMAT to demonstrate T. gondii infection in free range chicken. A total of 106 adult free - rangechickens were killed. Blood, whole heart and brain samples were taken. Sera were examinedfor the presence of T. gondii antibodies by ELISA and MAT as well. Selected tissues wereused for PCR and bioassay in mice. The results revealed that 48.11%, 51.89%, 46.23% and27.36% of chickens were positive in ELISA, MAT, PCR and bioassay in mice respectively. Goodcorrelation between the results of PCR, ELISA and MAT were detected, but not with bioassayin mice. Compared with PCR, the sensitivity and specificity of ELISA were 92.16% and 96.36%respectively and also for MAT, the sensitivity was 81.81% and the specificity was 92.15%. Thespecific diagnosis of T. gondii infection in chickens is central to a better understanding of theepidemiology and dynamics of transmission among the various host population and isparticularly important for planning effective optimal prevention and control programs. Ourdata in the present study demonstrated that PCR, ELISA and the MAT are helpful and precisemethods to detect T. gondii in naturally infected free-range chickens.