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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 79(2), 2008, pp. 205-209
Copyright © 2008 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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*Toxoplasmosis
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Prevalent Genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii in Pregnant Women and Patients from Crete and Cyprus

Ippokratis Messaritakis, Maria Detsika, Maria Koliou, Stavros Sifakis, AND Maria Antoniou*
Laboratory of Clinical Bacteriology, Parasitology, Zoonoses and Geographical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece; Department of Paediatrics, Infectious Diseases and Immunology Unit, Archbishop Makarios Hospital, Nicosia, Cyprus; University Hospital of Heraklion, Gynaecology and Obstetrics Clinic, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Molecular genotyping has been used to characterize Toxoplasma gondii strains into the three clonal lineages known as types I, II, and III. To characterize T. gondii strains from Greece and Cyprus, polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis on the GRA6 gene was performed directly on 20 clinical samples from 18 humans (11 pregnant women, six patients with lymphadenopathy, and one patient positive for human immunodeficiency virus) and two rats. Characterization of T. gondii types was performed after digestion of amplified products with Mse I. The 20 strains were characterized as type II (20%) and type III (80%). Of these strains, 19 originated from the island of Crete (4 strains type II and 15 strains type III), and 1 from the island of Cyprus (type III). Although both type II and type III strains were found, type III was the most prevalent in Crete.

Received November 1, 2007. Accepted for publication April 27, 2008.

Acknowledgments: We thank J. P. Dubey, S. L. Croft, and Olgica Durkovic-Dakovic for providing the reference strains; and E. Svirinaki and V. Liakou for their collaborations.

* Address correspondence to Maria Antoniou, Laboratory of Clinical Bacteriology, Parasitology, Zoonoses and Geographical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Voutes, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece. E-mail: antoniou{at}med.uoc.gr

Authors’ addresses: Ippokratis Messaritakis, Maria Detsika, and Maria Antoniou, Laboratory of Clinical Bacteriology, Parasitology, Zoonoses and Geographical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Voutes, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece, E-mails: imessar{at}edu.med.uoc.gr, m.detsika{at}imperial.ac.uk, and antoniou{at}med.uoc.gr. Maria Koliou, Department of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases and Immunology Unit, Archbishop Makarios Hospital, Nicosia, Cyprus, E-mail: mkoliou{at}spidernet.com.cy. Stavros Sifakis, Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic, University Hospital of Heraklion, Voutes, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece, E-mail: sifakis{at}excite.com.






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Copyright © 2008 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.