VALUE OF THE POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION FOR THE DETECTION OF TOXOPLASMA-GONDII IN CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID FROM PATIENTS WITH AIDS

To investigate whether the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on the BI g ene of Toxoplasma gondii could contribute to the diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis in patients with AIDS, we retrospectively tested CSF sa mples from 20 patients with AIDS suspected of having cerebral toxoplas mosis for the presence of T. gondii. Suspicion of cerebral toxoplasmos is was based on accepted criteria. Nine patients with AIDS with IgG an tibodies to T. gondii but who were not suspected of having cerebral to xoplasmosis and four patients with AIDS seronegative for T. gondii ser ved as negative control patients. T. gondii was demonstrated by PCR in the CSF from 13 of the 20 patients with AIDS suspected of having cere bral toxoplasmosis but was not demonstrated in the CSF samples from th e nine control patients seropositive for T. gondii and the four contro l patients seronegative for T. gondii. The data were statistically eva luated. This study shows the value of PCR for the detection of T. gond ii in CSF for the diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis in patients with AIDS.