title: Presence of high concentrations of circulating Toxoplasma antigens during acute Toxoplasma infection in athymic nude mice.
abstract: In mice infected with an avirulent strain of Toxoplasma gondii, circulating Toxoplasma antigens were detectable in the sera during weeks 1 to 3 of infection by a simple agglutination test that uses latex particles coated with anti-Toxoplasma antibodies. An infection in athymic nude mice resulted in high agglutination titers in the anti-Toxoplasma antibody-coated latex particle test and the absence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in sera during the acute phase, suggesting that the detection of circulating Toxoplasma antigens is a good tool for the diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis, especially in severely immunocompromised hosts.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis*; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan