Toxoplasma IgG and IgA, but not IgM, antibody titers increase in sera of immunocompetent mice in association with proliferation of tachyzoites in the brain during the chronic stage of infection

Toxoplasma IgG and IgA, but not IgM, antibody titers were significantly higher in immunocompetent mice with cerebral proliferation of tachyzoites during the chronic stage of infection than those treated with sulfadiazine to inhibit the parasite growth. Their IgG and IgA antibody titers correlated significantly with the amounts of tachyzoite-specific SAG1 mRNA in their brains. In contrast, neither IgG, IgA, nor IgM antibody titers increased following two different doses of challenge infection in chronically infected mice. Increased antibody titers in IgG and IgA but not IgM may be a useful indicator suggesting an occurrence of cerebral tachyzoite growth in immunocompetent individuals chronically infected with Toxoplasma gondii. (C) 2010 Institut Pasteur. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.