Sensitivity and specificity of polymerase chain reaction for the detection of toxoplasma gondll dna added to laboratory samples

Abstract

Current diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis mostly relies on serological detection of specific toxoplasma immunoglobulin, mouse inoculation or tissue culture of the clinical specimens. Detection of Toxo;lasma gondii DNA using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) saves time and labors. We, therefore, studied the sensitivity and specificity of PCR to detect T.gondii DNA by aliquoting various concentration of tachyzoites in laboratory specimens from 60 positive and 10 negative buffy-coat sample containing as few as 0.25 parasites in the presence of 100,000 human leukocytes and the result was impressive with 100% specificity.