TOXOPLASMA GONDII AND DOMESTIC CATS: RE-SHEDDING OF OOCYSTS AFTER HETEROLOGOUS INFECTION
Autor(es): DAUTON LUIZ ZULPO, IVO ALEXANDRE LEME DA CUNHA, LUIZ DANIEL DE BARROS, ALESSANDRA TARODA, ANA SUE SAMMI, JOELENI ROSA DOS SANTOS, JOÃO PEDRO SASSE, JOÃO LUIS GARCIA
TOXOPLASMA GONDII AND DOMESTIC CATS: RE-SHEDDING OF OOCYSTS AFTER HETEROLOGOUS INFECTION
» Área de pesquisa: PROTOZOOLOGIA
» Instituição: UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL DE LONDRINA
» Agência de fomento e patrocinadores: FUNDAÇÃO ARAUCÁRIA, CNPq, CAPES.
The cats are definitive hosts of Toxoplasma gondii, and they are considered the key in the life cycle of this parasite because they are able to shed millions of oocysts by feces. Usually, this occurs when cats are infected for the first time while kittens. However, the potential of a cat re-shed oocyst further after re-infections is not totally know. Thus, the aim was to evaluate the re-shedding of T. gondii oocysts in cats fed with tissue cysts from heterologous strains. Ten cats were used in the study. All animals were infected with ME-49 strain (type II) of T. gondii on zero day. After infection these cats were divided in three groups; G1 (n=2), G2 (n=5), and G3 (n=3). Animals from G1 and G2 were re-infected after twelve months with cysts of VEG (type III) and PB-1 (type II), respectively. G2 and G3 were re-infected thirty-six months later with cysts of VEG strain. The infections were performed by the use of 800 tissue cysts. Animals were evaluated by fecal flotation and serology. All cats sheded oocysts at the infection with ME-49 strain. Cats from G1 when re-infected after twelve months with VEG strain, one cat (1/2) shed oocysts. G2 when re-infected after twelve months with PB-1 strain did not shed oocysts, and when re-infected after thirty-six months with VEG strain, three out of four cats sheded oocysts. The G3 when re-infected after thirty-six months with VEG strain, two out of three cats sheded oocysts. All animals showed IgM, IgG and IgA after infection with ME-49 and remained positive until the last analysis of experiment (39 months). In conclusion, the excretion of T. gondii oocysts had kept high in experimentally re-infected cats during the years, mainly when different stains are used, what is more probably to happen in natural conditions.
