Prevalence and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii in naturally-infected synanthropic rats (Rattus norvegicus) and mice (Mus musculus) in eastern China

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Kui-Yang Zheng¹  Lin-Lin Fu¹  Ren-Xian Tang¹  Zi-Mu Wang⁴  Yu-Qing Wu³  Xuan Shen⁴  Hui-Feng Zhang⁴  Zhi-Long Lou²  Bei-Bei Zhang¹  Li-Jun Liang⁴  Chao Yan¹ 

[1] Department of Pathogenic Biology and Immunology, Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou 221004, Jiangsu Province, PR China;State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, Gansu Province, PR China;School of Medical Technology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou 221004, Jiangsu Province, PR China;Department of Clinical Medicine, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou 221004, Jiangsu Province, PR China

关键词: Eastern China;    Synanthropic rodent;    Genetic characterization;    Toxoplasma gondii;    Prevalence;   

Others  :  1148438
DOI  :  10.1186/s13071-014-0591-6

 received in 2014-11-26, accepted in 2014-12-05,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Synanthropic rats and mice share the same environment with humans and play an important role in epidemiology of toxoplasmosis; however, there is limited information about prevalence and genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii in synanthropic rats and mice in China.

Findings

In the present study, the prevalence and genetic characterization of T. gondii naturally infected synanthropic rodents (Rattus norvegicus and Mus musculus) were investigated in the urban area of Xuzhou city, Eastern China between June 2013 and August 2014. DNA from the brain of each animal was prepared and screened by specific PCR assay targeting 35-fold repeated B1 gene (B1-PCR). PCR positive DNA samples were further genotyped by multi-locus PCR-RFLP. Overall, out of 123 synanthropic rodents, 29 samples were positive by B1 gene-targeted PCR (23.6%). Of these, 7 out of 31 (22.3%) M. musculus were positive, whereas the positive rate of R. norvegicus was 23.9% (22/92). Multi-locus PCR-RFLP analysis reveals that seven PCR-positive samples were completely genotyped and they were identified as type China 1 (ToxoDB# 9).

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the first report of molecular detection and genetic characterization of T. gondii infection in synanthropic rodents in Eastern China. The results of the present study showed a high infection pressure of T. gondii exists in the environment and synanthropic rodents infected by T. gondii may be an important source of infection for cats and other animals.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Yan et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Dubey JP: Toxoplasmosis of Animals and Humans. 2nd edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida; 2010.
• [2]Tenter AM, Heckeroth AR, Weiss LM: Toxoplasma gondii: from animals to humans. Int J Parasitol 2000, 30:1217-1258.
• [3]Sibley LD, Boothroyd JC: Virulent strains of Toxoplasma gondii comprise a single clonal lineage. Nature 1992, 359:82-85.
• [4]Montoya JG, Liesenfeld O: Toxoplasmosis. Lancet 2004, 363:1965-1976.
• [5]Zhou P, Chen Z, Li HL, Zheng H, He S, Lin RQ, Zhu XQ: Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans in China. Parasit Vectors 2011, 4:165. BioMed Central Full Text
• [6]Zheng ZM, Jiang ZK, Chen AG: Rodent Zoology. 2nd edition. Shanghai Jiaotong University Press, Shanghai Municipality; 2008.
• [7]Dubey JP, Frenkel JK: Toxoplasmosis of rats: a review, with considerations of their value as an animal model and their possible role in epidemiology. Vet Parasitol 1998, 77:1-32.
• [8]Hughes JM, Williams RH, Morley EK, Cook DA, Terry RS, Murphy RG, Smith JE, Hide G: The prevalence of Neospora caninum and co-infection with Toxoplasma gondii by PCR analysis in naturally occurring mammal populations. Parasitology 2006, 132:29-36.
• [9]Meerburg BG, De Craeye S, Dierick K, Kijlstra A: Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii in brain tissue of feral rodents and insectivores caught on farms in the Netherlands. Vet Parasitol 2012, 184:317-320.
• [10]Meireles LR, Galisteo AJ Jr, Pompeu E, Andrade HF Jr: Toxoplasma gondii spreading in an urban area evaluated by seroprevalence in free-living cats and dogs. Trop Med Int Health 2004, 9:876-881.
• [11]Yan C, Fu LL, Yue CL, Tang RX, Liu YS, Lv L, Shi N, Zeng P, Zhang P, Wang DH, Zhou DH, Zhu XQ, Zheng KY: Stray dogs as indicators of Toxoplasma gondii distributed in the environment the first report across an urban–rural gradient in China. Parasit Vectors 2012, 5:5. BioMed Central Full Text
• [12]Hill DE, Chirukandoth S, Dubey JP, Lunney JK, Gamble HR: Comparison of detection methods for Toxoplasma gondii in naturally and experimentally infected swine. Vet Parasitol 2006, 141:9-17.
• [13]Homan WL, Vercammen M, De Braekeleer J, Verschueren H: Identification of a 200- to 300-fold repetitive 529 bp DNA fragment in Toxoplasma gondii, and its use for diagnostic and quantitative PCR. Int J Parasitol 2000, 30:69-75.
• [14]Tian YM, Huang SY, Miao Q, Jiang HH, Yang JF, Su C, Zhu XQ, Zou FC: Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii from cats in Yunnan Province, Southwestern China. Parasit Vectors 2014, 7:178. BioMed Central Full Text
• [15]Jiang HH, Huang SY, Zhou DH, Zhang XX, Su C, Deng SZ, Zhu XQ: Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii from pigs from different localities in China by PCR-RFLP. Parasit Vectors 2013, 6:227. BioMed Central Full Text
• [16]Zhang XX, Lou ZZ, Huang SY, Zhou DH, Jia WZ, Su C, Zhu XQ: Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii from Qinghai vole, Plateau pika and Tibetan ground-tit on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. Parasit Vectors 2013, 6:291. BioMed Central Full Text
• [17]Chen J, Li ZY, Zhou DH, Liu GH, Zhu XQ: Genetic diversity among Toxoplasma gondii strains from different hosts and geographical regions revealed by sequence analysis of GRA5 gene. Parasit Vectors 2012, 5:279. BioMed Central Full Text
• [18]Murphy RG, Williams RH, Hughes JM, Hide G, Ford NJ, Oldbury DJ: The urban house mouse (Mus domesticus) as a reservoir of infection for the human parasite Toxoplasma gondii: an unrecognised public health issue? Int J Environ Health Res 2008, 18:177-185.
• [19]Yin CC, He Y, Zhou DH, Yan C, He XH, Wu SM, Zhou Y, Yuan ZG, Lin RQ, Zhu XQ: Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Rats in Southern China. J Parasitol 2010, 96:1233-1234.
• [20]Wang L, Cheng HW, Huang KQ, Xu YH, Li YN, Du J, Yu L, Luo QL, Wei W, Jiang L, Shen JL: Toxoplasma gondii prevalence in food animals and rodents in different regions of China: isolation, genotyping and mouse pathogenicity. Parasit Vectors 2013, 6:273. BioMed Central Full Text
• [21]Dubey JP, Zhu XQ, Sundar N, Zhang H, Kwok OC, Su C: Genetic and biologic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates of cats from China. Vet Parasitol 2007, 145:352-356.
• [22]Zhou P, Zhang H, Lin RQ, Zhang DL, Song HQ, Su C, Zhu XQ: Genetic characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates from China. Parasitol Int 2009, 58:193-195.
• [23]Wang L, Chen H, Liu D, Huo X, Gao J, Song X, Xu X, Huang K, Liu W, Wang Y, Lu F, Lun ZR, Luo Q, Wang X, Shen J: Genotypes and mouse virulence of Toxoplasma gondii isolates from animals and humans in China. PLoS One 2013, 8:e53483.