Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii genotypes display high genetic diversity in South America with levels of diversity not yet seen in Europe. Indeed, highly virulent strains even for immunocompetent humans have been described. However, limited or no information appears to be available dealing with strains of T. gondii circulating in Uruguay. In order to understand the Toxoplasma population in Uruguay, 252 samples of sera from seropositive individuals living in Uruguay were selected for serotyping analyses. An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) based on the antibody response to specific peptides derived from T. gondii strains was used. Our findings predicted the presence of 34 discrete serotype profiles. Classical archetypes, serotype II and serotype III, were found for 8.3% and 2.4% respectively. Intriguingly, 29 different atypical serotype profiles were predicted, and non-reactive serotype profile was found in 12.3% of the samples. There appears to be a high genetic diversity within Toxoplasma population in Uruguay, similar to that known for neighboring countries in South America.

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