Abstract

JAZMIN CORTES, Liliana; AREVALO, Adriana  and  DUQUE, Sofía. Isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from cerebrospinal fluid of two human immunodeficiency virus-seropositive patients. Infect. [online]. 2013, vol.17, n.2, pp.61-65. ISSN 0123-9392.

Background: Isolation of T. gondii from cerebrospinal fluid enables confirmatory diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis, considered the second most important opportunistic infection in HIV-positive patients. Objective: To isolate Toxoplasma gondii from samples of cerebrospinal fluid from 2 HIV-positive patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis. Materials and methods: Imprinting control region (ICR) mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with CSF sediment from 2 HIV-positive patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis. Five of the inoculations were performed blind to successive passes. T. gondii tachyzoites were observed in these 5 inoculations in the peritoneal exudate through direct examination of the modified-Romanowsky-stained smears. Results: After 43 days, 4 mice showed piloerection, hepatosplenomegaly and lethargy. The peritoneal exudate exhibited T. gondii tachyzoites, a finding that was confirmed by examining the modified-Romanowsky-stained smears. These isolates were cryopreserved and their viability was confirmed after freezing. Conclusions: Although direct detection techniques of T. gondii in CSF have low sensitivity (38%), this study was able to yield 2 T. gondii isolates in 2 HIV-positive patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis.

Keywords : Toxoplasmosis; Virus Human Immunodeficiency; Animal model; Cerebrospinal fluid; Isolation; Colombia.

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