Improving diagnostics for toxoplasmosis to support public health interventions

改进弓形虫病的诊断以支持公共卫生干预措施

• 批准号: NE/V019309/1
• 负责人: Martin Walker
• 金额: $ 1.31万
• 依托单位: Royal Veterinary College
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FV019309%2F1
• 关键词: Improving; diagnostics; toxoplasmosis; support; public

BBSRC : Gregory Milne : BB/M009513/1Toxoplasmosis is caused by the globally ubiquitous zoonotic protozoan parasite Toxoplama gondii. T. gondii accounts for approximately 190,000 cases of congenital disease in humans each year in addition to exerting a substantial economic burden on agriculture, as a leading cause of spontaneous abortions in small ruminants. Moreover, immunosuppressed human patients are at high risk of reactivation of latent infection and severe, often lethal, disease. Increasing evidence also suggests that T. gondii may be responsible for a considerable burden of neurological disease, including affective disorders like schizophrenia.T. gondii is transmitted (horizontally, from animals to humans) via two main routes: either environmentally, by oocysts (containing infectious sporozoite stages) shed in the faeces of infected cats (or other felids), or via raw or undercooked meat contaminated with infectious bradyzoite cysts. Distinguishing between these transmission routes is relevant to identifying the source of infection in outbreaks, to the design of appropriate public health intervention strategies and potentially also to the prediction of disease sequelae in infected patients.The discovery of a sporozoite-specific protein, called T. gondii embryogenesis-related protein (TgERP), has made distinguishing between transmission routes possible using a serological (blood) test. However, the TgERP assay has hitherto only been successfully implemented in a single laboratory in the United States. The aim of this work is to validate the TgERP serological assay using human and animal serum samples. This will involve isolating TgERP from T. gondii cultures; testing the assay on animal samples with known infection route; maximising the sensitivity and specificity of the test and using the assay to identify the route of transmission from stored human sera samples. Dissemination of the results from this work will be key in facilitating the more widespread use of TgERP serology. This will assist public health practitioners with the implementation of effective measures to counter T. gondii outbreaks and with the design of appropriate intervention strategies to control transmission. Ultimately, validation of TgERP serology could be the first step towards the commercialisation of a point of care assay with a broad scope of clinical, epidemiological and public health utility.

BBSRC：Gregory Milne：BB/M009513/1弓形虫病是由全球普遍存在的人畜共患原生动物寄生虫弓形虫引起的。T.每年约有190 000例人类先天性疾病是由弓形虫引起的，它是小型反刍动物自然流产的主要原因，给农业造成巨大的经济负担。此外，免疫抑制的人类患者处于潜伏感染和严重的、通常致命的疾病的再激活的高风险中。越来越多的证据表明T.弓形虫可能是导致神经系统疾病的重要原因，包括精神分裂症等情感障碍。弓形虫通过两种主要途径传播（从动物到人的水平传播）：通过感染猫（或其他猫科动物）粪便中脱落的卵囊（含有感染性子孢子阶段）在环境中传播，或通过被感染性缓殖子包囊污染的生肉或未煮熟的肉传播。区分这些传播途径对于确定疾病暴发的感染源、设计适当的公共卫生干预策略以及预测感染患者的疾病后遗症都具有重要意义。弓形虫胚胎发生相关蛋白（TgERP），使得使用血清学（血液）测试区分传播途径成为可能。然而，TgERP测定迄今仅在美国的单个实验室中成功实施。本工作的目的是使用人和动物血清样品验证TgERP血清学测定。这将涉及从T.弓形虫培养物;在具有已知感染途径的动物样品上测试该测定;最大化该测试的灵敏度和特异性，并使用该测定从储存的人血清样品中鉴定传播途径。传播这项工作的结果将是促进TgERP血清学更广泛使用的关键。这将有助于公共卫生从业人员实施有效的措施来对抗T。弓形虫病爆发，并制定适当的干预战略以控制传播。最终，TgERP血清学的验证可能是实现具有广泛临床、流行病学和公共卫生效用的床旁检测商业化的第一步。