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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2003, p. 5414-5418, Vol. 41, No. 12
0095-1137/03/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.41.12.5414-5418.2003
Copyright © 2003, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Use of an Immunoglobulin G Avidity Assay Based on Recombinant Antigens for Diagnosis of Primary Toxoplasma gondii Infection during Pregnancy

Kenton Laboratories, Rome,¹ Department of Pediatrics,² Microbiology Laboratories, Federico II University, Naples,³ Department of Microbiological, Genetic and Molecular Sciences, University of Messina, Messina, Italy,⁵ Department of Gastrointestinal and Parasitic Infections, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark⁴

Received 4 February 2003/ Returned for modification 12 May 2003/ Accepted 1 September 2003

The objective of this work was to develop an antibody-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) avidity assay to discriminate between acute and latent phases of Toxoplasma gondii infection by using recombinant antigens. One hundred twenty-one serum samples from women who developed IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma during pregnancy were used. The IgG avidities of antibodies directed against epitopes carried by fragments of GRA3, GRA7, MIC3, and SAG1 antigens were measured by performing parallel enzyme immunoassays. The avidity index for Toxoplasma-specific antibodies against a homogeneous mixture of recombinant GRA3, GRA7, MIC3, and SAG1 antigens correlated closely with the IgG avidity of antibodies against lysed whole-cell T. gondii antigen. The avidity assay performed with the recombinant MIC3 antigen highlighted the presence of avidity low-antibodies IgG exclusively in sera collected within 2 months after primary infection. The presence of T. gondii-specific, low-avidity IgG antibodies against recombinant MIC3 antigen can be used to determine the point of infection with T. gondii within a 2-month time frame after infection.

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