Improvement and Evaluation of Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification for Rapid Detection of Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Human Blood Samples

PLoS One. 2017 Jan 5;12(1):e0169125. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0169125. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), an attractive DNA amplification method, was developed as a valuable tool for the rapid detection of Toxoplasma gondii. In this study, species-specific LAMP primers were designed by targeting the AF146527 sequence, which was a conserved sequence of 200- to 300-fold repetitive 529 bp fragment of T.gondii. LAMP reaction system was optimized so that it could detect the minimal DNA sample such as a single tachyzoite or 10 copies of recombinant plasmid. No cross-reactivity was found when using DNA from other parasites as templates. Subsequently, a total of 200 human blood samples were directly investigated by two diagnostic methods, LAMP and conventional PCR. Fourteen of 200 (7%) samples were positive for Toxoplasma by LAMP (the primers developed in this study), whereas only 5 of 200 (2.5%) were proved positive by conventional PCR. The procedure of the LAMP assay was very simple, as the reaction would be carried out in a single tube under isothermal conditions at 64°C and the result would be read out with 1 h (as early as 35 min with loop primers). Thus, this method has the advantages of rapid amplification, simple operation, and easy detection and would be useful for rapid and reliable clinical diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis, especially in developing countries.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chlorocebus aethiops
  • DNA, Protozoan / analysis
  • DNA, Protozoan / genetics
  • Humans
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / methods*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Toxoplasma / genetics
  • Toxoplasma / isolation & purification*
  • Toxoplasmosis, Animal / diagnosis
  • Toxoplasmosis, Animal / parasitology
  • Vero Cells

Substances

  • DNA, Protozoan

Grants and funding

This research was financially supported by the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (No. 201303042), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31172309), and the Special Cooperation Funds for Science and Technology of Hainan Province (No. KJHZ2015-31). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.