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; 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/M009513/1TOXOXOPLASMOSIS是由全球无处不在的人畜共患原生动物寄生虫Toxoplama Gondii引起的。每年，Gondii的人类大约有190,000例先天性疾病，除了对农业施加重大的经济负担，这是小型反刍动物自发流产的主要原因。此外，免疫抑制的人类患者处于潜在感染和严重（通常致命的疾病）重新激活的高风险。越来越多的证据也表明，贡迪链球菌可能负责神经系统疾病的重大负担，包括精神分裂症等情感障碍。通过两种主要途径传播gondii（水平从动物到人类）：在环境上，通过卵囊（包含感染性的孢子菌阶段）在感染猫（或其他猫咪）的粪便中脱落，或者是通过原始的或未煮熟的肉被感染性胸腺污染物污染的。区分这些传输途径与识别暴发中的感染来源，与受感染患者的疾病后遗症的预测的设计有关。发现了孢子虫特异性蛋白，称为T. gondii胚胎发生的孢子脉特异性蛋白质，从而使与传播相关的蛋白质（TGERP）有可能在传播方面区分开来。但是，迄今为止，TGERP分析仅在美国的一个实验室中成功实施。这项工作的目的是使用人类和动物血清样品验证TGERP血清学测定。这将涉及将tgerp与T. gondii培养物隔离；测试具有已知感染途径的动物样品的测定；最大化测试的灵敏度和特异性，并使用测定法确定从存储的人血清样品中的传播途径。从这项工作中传播结果将是促进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采取有效的措施来反击Gondii爆发，并设计适当的干预策略以控制传播。最终，TGERP血清学的验证可能是朝着临床，流行病学和公共卫生公用事业范围广泛的护理测定法商业化的第一步。