EVALUATION OF GRA6 AS GENETIC MARKER FOR DETERMINING TOXOPLASMA GONDII GENOTYPE IN THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID OF HIV/AIDS PATIENTS WITH TOXOPLASMIC ENCEPHALITIS.

BACKGROUND

Toxoplasmic encephalitis is a severe manifestation of Toxoplasma gondii infection, with potentially fatal outcomes, particularly among immunocompromised patients. Clinical manifestation of this infection is associated with a specific genotype of T. gondii, requiring the use of genetic marker for genotype determination.

AIMS: This study critically evaluated the application of GRA6 gene as genetic marker for genotyping T. gondii in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from HIV/AIDS patients diagnosed with Toxoplasmic encephalitis.

METHODS

The study analyzed 69 CSF samples from HIV/AIDS patients with Toxoplasmic encephalitis. These samples tested positive for Toxoplasma IgG serology and SAG2 PCR, while GRA6 genotyping was conducted using PCR-sequencing methods.

RESULTS

The results showed that GRA6 had potential for genotyping in positive control settings from culture cells. However, there was limited effectiveness in CSF samples from Toxoplasmic encephalitis patients.

CONCLUSION

GRA6 had been proven effective as a genetic marker for the identification of T. gondii genotype among HIV/AIDS patients with Toxoplasmic encephalitis. However, the evaluation of GRA6 showed more effectiveness in cultured cells compared to direct clinical samples, such as cerebrospinal fluid obtained from HIV/AIDS patients with Toxoplasmic encephalitis.