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Background and Purpose : Primary infection of toxoplasmosis in pregnancy can cause death and abortion , severe infection of neonate and asymptomatic but progressive infection. Identification of Susceptible women on gestation would help to prevent fetal and neonatal infection. Prevalence rate of toxoplasmosis in different regions of the world and IRAN are different. So, for proper planning of prevention , it is necessary to know the ratio of susceptible women to toxoplasmosis.
Materials and Methods : 612 pregnant women referred to clinic of obstetric and gynecology in University Hospitals in Sari were selected. 2cc blood sample from each patient was collected and serums were prepared and stored at - 20 ºc. Antitoxoplasma IgG was measured by ELISA method. The result was reported as posilive and negative.
Results : 435 (71%) samples were positive with confidence interval of 4 (61-75%) and age range of women was 16-36 years , most of them were in the age group of 20-30 years.
Conclusion : The result showed that prevalance of toxoplasmosis in Sari is high. Considering the low number of Susceptible women and high expenses of serological screening tests. Health education is recommended for the prevention of toxoplasmosis in pregnant woman.

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Background and Purpose: Toxoplasmosis is a common disease of human & animals (Zoonosis) which has a world wide distribution. Ïnfection with Toxoplasma gondii in pregnant women produces a different clinical features such as abortion and still birth. This study was performed in order to determine the titer of anti Toxoplasma antibody in women with the history of abortion or still birth referring to Sari, s Medical Çenters during the years 1376-1377.
Materials and Methods: Ïn the descriptive study, serum samples of 200 pregnant women in age groups of 26.2 ± 4.8 who had a history of abortion or still birth referring to Sari, s medical centers during Farvardin 76 to Ësphand 77 were examined. For serological studies, antibody titration for ÏgM and ÏgG were determined by indirect immunofluorescence technique.
Results: Ïn this study, 75 patients (37.5%) of aborted women were seropositive for Toxoplasma ≥ 1/100. 45 of them (60%) had a titer equal to or less than 1/400 and 30 women (40%) had a titer more than 1/400. Ïn all, only 3 women (1.5%) had ÏgM antibody. There was no statistically significant difference between the rate of anti toxoplasma gondii antibody in women of urban and rural areas.
Çonclusion: Perhaps toxoplasmosis is one the causes of abortion in the area, but is not the main cause, because many pregnant women are infected with toxoplasma gondii before hand.

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Background and Purpose: Toxoplasmosis has world wide distribution and in Ïran it’s prevalence is high. Pregnant women infected with Toxoplasma gondii may be prone to abortion, foetal death, still birth or congenital Toxoplasmosis. Ïf we know the percentage of immune women, who are going to get married, we can determine the occurance of abortion, still birth and foetal death due to Toxoplasmosis and congenital Toxoplasmosis.
Materials and Methods: Women who are going to get married and referred to the health center laboratory of different cities of Mazandaran state were studied. The samples comprised of 980 women from Sari, Ghaemshahr, Babol, Noshahr, Noor and Behshahr. Five ml blood was drawn, serum was seprated and examined for antibody against Toxoplasmosis by indirect immunofluorescence. First of all, 1/50 titer dilution was tested in the cases of positive result, further dilution was prepared and the last positive dilution was recorded.
Results: Serum of 731 samples (75.6%) were positive for Toxoplasma antibody. The confidence interval was 2.7 (74.6 ± 2.7). Most of the samples (37% and 24%) were positive in 1/200 and 1/100 dilutions. With increase in the age of women, percentage of positive cases increased (87.9% of the women with age of 30-34 years were positive for toxoplasma antibody). 96.3% of uneducated women were positive for Toxoplasma antibody. No difference between women in urban and rural areas, also between employed and unemployed women were found.
Çonclusion: Toxoplasma infection is more prevalent in Mazandaran state than the other states of country. Since the prevalence rates of Toxoplasmosis are high in women before marriage, we can conuclude that the risk of abortion, still birth and foetal death due to Toxoplasmosis and also congenital Toxoplasmosis in this state is low. Therefore a health recommendation will prevent the risk of Toxoplasmosis in women who are going to marry.

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Background and purpose : Serological studies revealed that toxoplasmosis has world wide distribution. Ït is a zoonosis and humans are infected through contact with infected animal, consuming infected food and congenital infection. Due to the different ways of transmission, prevalence of infection may vary between different groups of people. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in Mazandaran rehabilation centers. 1 200 1 1600 1 800 1 100 1 400
Materials and methods : 336 individuals (50% of population) were randomly selected from a total of 647 mental patients resided in 10 rehabilitation centers. Five milliliter (ml) blood were taken from each individual and sera were separated. Sera were diluted 1:50 and antitoxoplasma antibody detected using indirect immunofluorescense technique. Positive sera were diluted further to , , , , and the titer of antibody determined prevalence and its confidence interval (ÇÏ) were calculated.
Results : 161 of the subjects were male and 175 female. 77.4% of them were positive for toxoplasma antibody (95% ÇÏ was 72.9-81.9). Prevalence in male was 73.3% (95% ÇÏ was 68.2-78.4) while in female it was 81.1% (a 5% ÇÏ was 72-88.2). The difference of prevalence between male and female was not statistically significant (P<0.01). Prevalence of the disease in 10 different rehabilation centers was not significant either.
Çonclusion : Prevalence of toxoplasmosis was 77.4 in Mazandaran rehabilation centers which is the same as in normal population of Mazandaran, therefore toxoplasmosis is not a considerable problem in Mazandaran rehabilation centers.

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Background and Purpose: Many studies report that Toxoplasma gondii excreted / secreted antigens (E/SA) appear to be a suitable marker for toxoplasmosis serodiagnosis. Most of these studies have used E/SA, obtained from supernatant of Toxoplasma cell culture, or by incubating tachyzoites in cell free media (RPMI-1640). The present study for the detection of Toxoplasma IgG in human serum was evaluated, using the components of peritoneal fluid of infected mice (as another source of E/SA).
Materials and Methods:Peritoneal fluids of mice infected by interaperitoneal (IP) inoculation of Toxoplasma tachyzoites were collected after 3 days and centrifuged at 750×g for 15 minutes. Then the supernatant was precipitated with ammonium sulphate solution (40% saturated) and used as components encompassing E/SA. Forty (40) none- infected ( without anti- toxoplasma antibodies) and thirty- two (32) positive (with IgG to toxoplasma) human serum samples were selected (all sera were first tested by standard method for detection of IgG antibodies anti-T. gondii) then, the sera were tested by ELISA using E/SA.
Results:The cut-off point with 95% confidences was found to be 0.78. Moreover, sensitivity and specificity of the method were determined to be 84% and 92%, respectively.
Conclusion:The present results indicate that peritoneal exudates from mice infected with T.gondii, may be used as a source of anti-genic material for the detection of Toxoplasma-specific IgG. Furthermore, it may be valuable for the development of new tools in the serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis.

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Background and purpose: One of the transmission ways of the congenital toxoplasmosis is through the placenta to the fetus, therefore, its diagnosis at early stage is very important. Toxoplasma gondii parasite contains various antigens of which excretory-secretory antigens (E/SA) are used in designing Elisa avidity kit. The aim of this study was to compare the results of commercial kit and designed Elisa avidity kit in mothers with toxoplasmosis. Excretory-secretory antigens of toxoplasma gondii parasite were used in the designed kit. Materials and methods: In this descriptive study aspirated peritoneal fluid of mice which were IP infected by toxoplasma tachyzoite (106 tachyzoites/mL) seven days earlier, were centrifuged at 1000g for 15 minutes. Afterwards, the upper fluid was taken as the main component of E/SA from toxoplasma tachyzoite in order to assess the designed Elisa avidity kit. Results: The results showed that if fresh E/SA are used in designed Elisa avidity kit to detect toxoplasma IgG, better outcomes may found regarding the quantity and titer of antibody. Conclusion: The results drawn from the designed kit using E/SA of toxoplasma gondii were more reliable than that of the commercial kit in detecting congenital toxoplasmosis.

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Background and purpose: Toxoplasmosis infection in hemodialysis patients may cause severe complications, and even in some cases the cause of death. It can be impose considerable costs to health systems. Since the high prevalence of this parasite has been reported in various parts of the country, this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in hemodialysis patients in Bushehr, Iran.

Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, all hemodialysis patients who were continuously referred from September 2011 to September 2012 to the dialysis center at Bushehr, were evaluated by the ELISA method for determine the presence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG & IgM antibodies.

Results: From a total of 84 patients studied, 32 (38.1%) and 2 (2.4%) patients were positive for IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. The results showed that there is no significant relationship between infection and some variables analyzed, such as consuming and washing vegetables and keeping cats.

Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of toxoplasmosis infection among hemodialysis patients in Bushehr in comparison with healthy people in the region and since the fact that toxoplasmosis is a risk factor for life-threatening of hemodialysis patients, it is recommended that these patients should be screen for toxoplasmosis before dialysis as well as kidney transplant to prevent the spread of the infection through the process of dialysis.

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Background and purpose: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligatory intracellular protozoan parasite. Toxoplasmosis is highly prevalent and has a great effect on public health, therefor, there is a need for vaccine and sensitive diagnostic procedures. This study aimed at cloning and investigating the expression of ROP13 gene of T. gondii.
Materials and methods: In this study, the gene was cloned in pTG19-T vector and transferred to a TOP10 strain of E.coli following ROP13 gene amplification using PCR. Then the ROP13 gene was sub cloned in expression plasmid pcDNA3. Also, pcROP13 was transferred to CHO cells and the expression level was evaluated by IFA method.
Results: Cloning and sub cloning of ROP 13 gene were confirmed by PCR, sequencing and enzymatic digestion. The gene sequencing showed complete homology with a recorded sequence in the gene bank. Moreover, the expression of ROP13 gene in CHO eukaryotic cells was confirmed by IFA method.
Conclusion: The results showed that ROP13 gene was successfully sub cloned into the pcDNA3 expression vector and expressed in CHO cells. Therefore, it can be used in the development of vaccines and in diagnostic tests.

 

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Background and purpose: There are few treatment options available for treatment of toxoplasmosis and effective drugs have serious toxic effects. In this study, the in vivo and in vitro anti-toxoplasma activities of Heracleum persicum and Foeniculum vulgare fruits essential oils were investigated.
Materials and methods: In vitro, Vero cells were incubated with different concentrations of essential oils or pyrimethamine (positive control) and the cellular viability was determined. Next, Vero cells were infected with T. gondii (RH strain) and treated with agents. Then, the CC₅₀, IC₅₀, and selectivity index (SI) were calculated. Moreover, in vivo, the effect of oils on survival times of Balb/c mice infected with T. gondii were determined.
Results: In vitro results showed that the oils exhibited less cell toxicity than pyrimethamine.
The selective index was 2.94, 6.96, and 3.06 for Heracleum persicum, Foeniculum vulgare, and pyrimethamine, respectively. Also, the infected mice treated with F. vulgare-pyrimethamine showed a better survival rate than others (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The H. persicum and F. vulgare essential oils showed anti-toxoplasmic activity in vitro and in vivo, but, combination therapy with F. vulgare and pyrimethamine showed a better survival time in mice infected with T. gondii. Therefore, F. vulgare may be a useful candidate in treatment of Toxoplasmosis. However, further studies are needed to investigate the fractions of this plant against T. gondii.

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Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is the cause of toxoplasmosis, an infection with worldwide distribution. Considering the burden of congenital toxoplasmosis, opportunistic toxoplasmosis infection in immunocompromised patients, and the increasing of these patients, regarding the variety of weather conditions and social factors in Iran, evaluation and improvement of the methods of controlling and preventing toxoplasmosis is necessary in the country. The lack of a mandatory national program for the control and prevention of toxoplasmosis, the failure to implement a regular screening program during pregnancy, the lack of a national network for registering positive cases of congenital toxoplasmosis, and the need to improve the quality of educational programs are among the most important challenges in the future. In this regard, the researchers of the Toxoplasmosis Research Center have introduced and proposed new programs for the control and prevention of toxoplasmosis in Iran and presented solutions to the mentioned challenges to be given to the policymakers for the Ministry of Health and the universities of medical sciences in the current policy summary report. To develop a control and prevention program for toxoplasmosis in Iran, the following goals should be considered: prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis, regular screening during pregnancy and follow-up of seronegative cases, secondary prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis based on screening and treatment before the birth of the baby, follow-up of treatment in IgG and IgM positive infants to prevent ocular toxoplasmosis in the future, health education for women in reproductive age, examination of knowledge and awareness of pregnant women about toxoplasma and its transmission routes, prevention of toxoplasmosis in other patients, the establishment of a reference laboratory for toxoplasmosis diagnosis, prevention of infection in animals and disinfection in meat, reduction of environmental pollution and public education