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. 2022 Aug 5;10(8):1577.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms10081577.

Toxoplasma gondii Serotypes in Italian and Foreign Populations: A Cross-Sectional Study Using a Homemade ELISA Test

Sara Caldrer  1 , Ambra Vola  2 , Guglielmo Ferrari  2 , Tamara Ursini  1 , Cristina Mazzi  3 , Valeria Meroni  4 , Anna Beltrame  1
Affiliations

Toxoplasma gondii Serotypes in Italian and Foreign Populations: A Cross-Sectional Study Using a Homemade ELISA Test

Sara Caldrer et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite responsible for human toxoplasmosis. The three major clonal lineages and different recombinant strains of T. gondii have a varied global distribution. This study aimed at evaluating the epidemiological distribution of types II and I-III and recombinant or mixed T. gondii in Italians and foreigners residing in Italy, establishing an association between serotypes and demographic characteristics. We collected the sera of 188 subjects who had tested positive for specific T. gondii antibodies. The population was differentiated into groups based on sex, nationality, and place of birth (Italy, Africa, South America, Asia, or Europe (except Italy)). We then performed a homemade ELISA test that detected both the antibodies against the amino acid sequences of the three main genotype antigens (I-III) in human sera and discerned the T. gondii strains. Serotype II of T. gondii was the most prevalent in the Italian population, whereas type I-III was the most prevalent in the foreign group. Surprisingly, we observed a notable amount of recombinant or mixed serotypes in European and Italian subjects. Moreover, we showed a significant difference in the prevalence of T. gondii serotypes between men and women, Italians, and foreigners. This descriptive study is the first to investigate the epidemiological distribution of T. gondii serotypes in humans in Italy using a homemade ELISA. We considered this technique suitable for discriminating between serotypes II and I-III and, consequently, for an epidemiological study focusing on the observation of circulating T. gondii strains and clinical correlations.

Keywords: Italians; Toxoplasma gondii; epidemiology; migrants; serotype ELISA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Geographical distribution of the population studied. (A) The three colors represent the total number of isolates for each country, as defined in the legend (n = sample size). (B) The pie chart represents the sample size for each continent and the relative percentage of the population compared to all subjects included in the study. * Europe without Italy. This image was modified starting from the file BlankMap-World-v6.png from the Wikimedia Commons free media repository; GNU Free Documentation License.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of T. gondii serotypes (A) in the overall population stratified by nationality (Italians, foreign) and place of birth (Europe, Africa, South America, Asia) and (B) in the overall population stratified by sex (females, males) and by sex and nationality (Italian females, foreign females, Italian males, foreign males). p-values are based on the Chi-square test. * Europe without Italy.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Pie charts showing the patient characteristics (sex and place of birth) for each T. gondii serotype (I–III, II, R/M) found in the overall study population. * Europe without Italy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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