title: Measurement of the efficacy of vaccines and antimicrobial therapy against infection with Toxoplasma gondii.
abstract: To facilitate studies of vaccines and antimicrobial agents effective against Toxoplasma gondii infection, an assay system was developed to semi-quantitate parasitaemia using PCR amplification of T. gondii DNA obtained from the blood of mice infected with the parasite. A competitive internal standard DNA fragment of the B1 gene of T. gondii was generated and used in PCR so that the amplified product could be semi-quantitated and false negative results could be avoided. The PCR assay system was used to analyse the levels of parasitaemia in immunised and antimicrobial agent treated mice at various times after infection with T. gondii. The results of these studies indicate that this highly sensitive detection method is a rapid and reliable procedure that can be employed to assess the abilities of vaccines or antimicrobial agents to provide protection early following T. gondii infection.
authors.affiliation: The University of Chicago, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (MC 2114), 939 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kirisits
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mui
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McLeod
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000175:diagnosis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D013411:Sulfadiazine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D014612:Vaccines; D013411:Sulfadiazine