Tissue tropism and parasite burden of Toxoplasma gondii RH strain in experimentally infected mice

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate parasite distribution and tissue tropism of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites in experimentally infected mice using real time QPCR. METHODS: In this survey 16 Balb/c mice were inoculated with 1 × 10(4) alive tachyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii RH strain. After 1, 2, 3 days post infection and the last day (before death), different tissues of mice including blood, brain, eye, liver, spleen, kidney, heart and muscle were harvested. Following tissues DNA extraction, the parasite burden was quantified using real time QPCR targeting the B1 gene (451 bp). RESULTS: It showed that Toxoplasma after intraperitoneal injection was able to movement to various tissues in 24 hours. Parasite burden was high in all tissues but the most number of parasites were observed in kidney, heart and liver, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide significant baseline information about Toxoplasma pathogenesis, vaccine monitoring and drug efficiency.