Utilization of continuous polymerase chain response (PCR) and histopathological changes for identification of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite in male rats (test study)

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii infection is wide spread in Iraq that is why this study was carried out to detect its
presence in semen samples of infected male rats experimentally. Impression smears, real time polymerase
chain reaction (PCR) and histopathological changes were used for detection of T. gondii. The current
study included the isolation of local strains of T. gondii from placenta of women that experienced abortion
that had toxoplasmosis history, 0.3 ml of suspension contained 100 tissue cyst per rat injected
interperetonially in 40 rats. Eight weeks post inoculation, rats were sacrificed then dissected and
epididymis was immediately removed. Impression smear were made from semen stained with eosinnigrosin as initial diagnosis of infection confirmed by the presence of cysts of parasite. This confirmation
is dependent on the molecular diagnosis by real time PCR which successfully detected the parasite in
90.3% of rats inoculated with aborted placenta suspension. Some histological changes in testicular tissue
were collapse and shrinkage in somniferous tubules with multinucleated giant cells with vacuolar
degeneration of lydig cell. These finding suggest that T. gondii infection cause a temporary impairment
and insufficiency in male reproductive activity with probability of transmission of the parasite in semen to
females or to other animals such as cats.