Design and Optimization of an IgG Avidity ELISA Based on Toxoplasma gondii Lysate Antigen for Differentiating Acute and Chronic Infections in Pregnant Women.
9 affiliations
- 1Toxoplasmosis Research Center, Communicable Diseases Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- 2Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- 3Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- 4Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- 5Gastrointestinal Cancer Research Center, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- 6Orthopedic Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- 7Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Addiction Institute, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
- 8Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, NASRA, 7P. Sevak st. Yerevan 0014, Armenia.
- 9Laboratory of Zoology, Research Institute of Biology, Yerevan State University, Yerevan, 0025, Republic of Armenia.
Abstract
Background
Toxoplasmosis is a significant global health concern. Definitive diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is a serious challenge due to false positive serological results. This study focuses on optimization and standardization of an in-house IgG avidity ELISA for Toxoplasma gondii using freshly prepared Toxoplasma lysate antigen (TLA).Methods
Samples were collected during routine pregnancy screening. Following tachyzoite purification, TLA concentration was determined by the Bradford assay at 20 μg/mL. The indirect ELISA assay was then performed with a urea treatment step (6 M). Using 75 serum samples classified as acute or chronic toxoplasmosis, the IgG avidity test was performed by ELISA in two rows of microplates with 6 M urea and PBS, and then the avidity index was calculated.Results
After calculating the cutoff values, the sensitivity and specificity of the in-house Toxoplasma IgG avidity kit were 92% (95% CI: 74-99%) and 100% (95% CI: 86-100%), respectively, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.977 (95% CI: 0.951-1.000).Conclusion
The results of the IgG avidity test designed in this study along with standardizing the method and interpreting the results showed the promising performance of this assay to differentiate the acute from the chronic stages of toxoplasmosis.
Related
- [Factors associated with seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women: a cross-sectional study, Piraquara, Brazil, 2024].
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BibTeX
@article{tork2026design,
title = {{Design and Optimization of an IgG Avidity ELISA Based on Toxoplasma gondii Lysate Antigen for Differentiating Acute and Chronic Infections in Pregnant Women.}},
author = {Mostafa Tork and Shahabeddin Sarvi and Hossein Asgarian-Omran and Mitra Sadeghi and Bahare Basirpour and Eisa Nazar and Seyed Abdollah Hosseini and Ahmad Daryani and Sargis A Aghayan},
journal = {Iranian journal of parasitology},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.18502/ijpa.v21i3.22589},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974500},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Design and Optimization of an IgG Avidity ELISA Based on Toxoplasma gondii Lysate Antigen for Differentiating Acute and Chronic Infections in Pregnant Women.
AU - Mostafa Tork
AU - Shahabeddin Sarvi
AU - Hossein Asgarian-Omran
AU - Mitra Sadeghi
AU - Bahare Basirpour
AU - Eisa Nazar
AU - Seyed Abdollah Hosseini
AU - Ahmad Daryani
AU - Sargis A Aghayan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Iranian journal of parasitology
DO - 10.18502/ijpa.v21i3.22589
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974500
AB - Background Toxoplasmosis is a significant global health concern. Definitive diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is a serious challenge due to false positive serological results. This study focuses on optimization and standardization of an in-house IgG avidity ELISA for Toxoplasma gondii using freshly prepared Toxoplasma lysate antigen (TLA).Methods Samples were collected during routine pregnancy screening. Following tachyzoite purification, TLA concentration was determined by the Bradford assay at 20 μg/mL. The indirect ELISA assay was then performed with a urea treatment step (6 M). Using 75 serum samples classified as acute or chronic toxoplasmosis, the IgG avidity test was performed by ELISA in two rows of microplates with 6 M urea and PBS, and then the avidity index was calculated.Results After calculating the cutoff values, the sensitivity and specificity of the in-house Toxoplasma IgG avidity kit were 92% (95% CI: 74-99%) and 100% (95% CI: 86-100%), respectively, with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.977 (95% CI: 0.951-1.000).Conclusion The results of the IgG avidity test designed in this study along with standardizing the method and interpreting the results showed the promising performance of this assay to differentiate the acute from the chronic stages of toxoplasmosis.
SN - 1735-7020
SN - 2008-238X
ER -