Parasitol Res DOI 10.1007/s00436-014-3788-x
ORIGINAL PAPER
Humoral immune responses in chickens and turkeys after infection with Toxoplasma gondii by using recombinant antigens Andrea Hotop & Susanne Buschtöns & Berit Bangoura & Birte Zöller & Martin Koethe & Katrin Spekker-Bosker & Sven-Kevin Hotop & Astrid M. Tenter & Walter Däubener & Reinhard K. Straubinger & Uwe Groß
Received: 22 August 2013 / Accepted: 28 January 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Abstract Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite which can be transmitted to humans via the consumption of contaminated meat products derived from different animal species, e.g., poultry. In Europe, the consumption rate of poultry meat is high and may pose a risk for humans. However, little is known about the prevalence and immune response against T. gondii in these animals. Based on these circumstances, we experimentally infected 18 turkeys and 16 chickens with the parasite. Turkeys were infected either with tachyzoites on different routes or with various amounts of oocysts. In contrast, chickens were only infected with different doses of oocysts. The immunoglobulin (Ig) Y humoral immune responses of A. Hotop (*) : U. Groß Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075 Göttingen, Germany e-mail: [email protected] S. Buschtöns : A. M. Tenter Institute for Parasitology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany B. Bangoura : B. Zöller Institute of Parasitology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany M. Koethe Institute of Food Hygiene, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany K. Spekker-Bosker : W. Däubener Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany S.
ORIGINAL PAPER
Humoral immune responses in chickens and turkeys after infection with Toxoplasma gondii by using recombinant antigens Andrea Hotop & Susanne Buschtöns & Berit Bangoura & Birte Zöller & Martin Koethe & Katrin Spekker-Bosker & Sven-Kevin Hotop & Astrid M. Tenter & Walter Däubener & Reinhard K. Straubinger & Uwe Groß
Received: 22 August 2013 / Accepted: 28 January 2014 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
Abstract Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite which can be transmitted to humans via the consumption of contaminated meat products derived from different animal species, e.g., poultry. In Europe, the consumption rate of poultry meat is high and may pose a risk for humans. However, little is known about the prevalence and immune response against T. gondii in these animals. Based on these circumstances, we experimentally infected 18 turkeys and 16 chickens with the parasite. Turkeys were infected either with tachyzoites on different routes or with various amounts of oocysts. In contrast, chickens were only infected with different doses of oocysts. The immunoglobulin (Ig) Y humoral immune responses of A. Hotop (*) : U. Groß Institute for Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center, Kreuzbergring 57, 37075 Göttingen, Germany e-mail: [email protected] S. Buschtöns : A. M. Tenter Institute for Parasitology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany B. Bangoura : B. Zöller Institute of Parasitology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany M. Koethe Institute of Food Hygiene, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany K. Spekker-Bosker : W. Däubener Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Hygiene, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany S.
