Toxoplasma gondii

History & Distribution

• First described in 1908 by Charles Nicolle and
Louis Herbert Manceaux in small North
American rodent called “gundi”
(Ctenodactylus gondii)
• Its importance as a human pathogen was
recognized much later when Janku (1923)
observed the cyst in the retina of a child with
hydrocephalus and micro-opthalmia
• The name Toxoplasma is derived from the
Greek word “Toxon” meaning arc or brow
referring to thecurved shape of the
trophozoite.
• Toxoplasma is now recognized as the most
common protozoan parasite globally, with the
widest range of hosts spread over 200 species
of birds, reptiles, and mammals including
human
Morphology
• Trophozoites (tachyzoites)
– Crescent shaped with one end pointed and the
other end rounded
– 3-7 µm in length. Nucleus is ovoid and is situated
at the blunt end of the parasite
– stains well with Giemsa stain
– Rapidly proliferating
• Tissue cyst (bradyzoites)
– Found during chronic stage in the brain (most
common site), skeletal muscles, various other
organs
– the cyst is round or oval, 10-20 µm and contains
numerous bradyzoites. Cyst remain viable in tissue
for several years
– In immunodeficient host, they may leading to
clinical disease
• Oocyst
– Develop only in definitive host (in the intestine of
cats and other felines but not in human)
– Oval, 10-12 µm diameter, thick resistant wall
– Formed by sexual reproduction (gametogony)
– Cats shed millions of oocysts per day in feces for
about 2 weeks during primary infection
– Undergo sporulation in the soil (sporulated oocyst
is infective stage)
– Very resistant to environmental conditions and
can remain infective in soil for about a year
Life cycle
Pathogenity
• One of the major fatal complications in AIDS
• Most human infections are asymptomatic
• Clinical toxoplasmosis may be congenital
(transmitted transplacentally from mother to
fetus) or acquired
Laboratory diagnosis
• Microscopy
– Tachyzoites and tissue cyst can be detected in
various specimens like blood, sputum, bone
marrow aspirate, cerebrospinal fluid, spleen and
brain
– Stain by Giemsa, PAS or GMS
– Tachyzoites appear as crescent-shaped structure
with blue cytoplasm and dark nucleus
• Animal inoculation
• Serodiagnosis
• Molecular
• Imaging