Advances in Laboratory Diagnostic Techniques for Toxoplasma gondii
Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by infection with Toxoplasma gondii,and widely distributed all over the world,with wide range of host species and high infection rates in human and animals,posing a threat to human health and public health. Considering that no ideal drug has been available for the disease,early diagnosis is one of the important means to prevent and control the disease. Etiological diagnosis is the initial method for Toxoplasma gondii,and is simple with reliable results but time-consuming,which failed to meet the needs of rapid,efficient and batch detection,and became decreasing in its application in laboratory diagnosis. Immunological detection methods mainly include ELISA and IHA,and relatively mature commercial kits or diagnostic reagents are available,which have played a great role in large-scale detection and epidemiological investigation. Compared with traditional pathogenic detection methods,molecular biological methods have been improved in speed,throughput,specificity and sensitivity,and avoided false positive results caused by acquired immunity as compared with immunological diagnosis,which represent the main development trend of laboratory diagnosis for toxoplasmosis in the future. In the paper,the laboratory diagnosis technology for Toxoplasma gondii were discussed from the aspects of etiology,molecular biology and immunology,with a view to providing a reference for the laboratory diagnosis for Toxoplasma gondii and development of measures fighting against toxoplasmosis.