Rapid and sensitive diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii infections by PCR

Abstract

DNA was extracted with a modified Qiagen DNA Mini Kit method from 20 clinical samples and was amplified by PCR using specific primers for the T. gondii B1 gene. T. gondii was detected correctly in 18 of the 20 clinical samples in <5 h, with a detection limit of two parasites /sample. The results were in good agreement with those obtained by a more complicated and time-consuming procedure involving two-step nested PCR and either liquid hybridisation or colorimetric detection using internal probes. © 2004 Copyright by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.