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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, May 2001, p. 579-584, Vol. 8, No. 3
Laboratoire de Recherche en Pathologie
Infectieuse, Faculté Xavier Bichat, 75018 Paris,1 INSERM U330, Université de
Bordeaux 2,3 and Clinique Médicale
et des Maladies Infectieuses, CHU Bordeaux, Hôpital Saint
André,7 33076 Bordeaux Cedex,
Hôpital Saint Louis, 75475 Paris Cedex
10,4 and Hôpital La Timone, 13855 Marseille Cedex 05,2 France; Health
Sciences Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New
York6; and Infectious Diseases Division,
Institut d'Investigacions Biomédiques August Pi i
Sunyer-Hospital Clinic Universitari, University of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain5
Received 31 July 2000/Returned for modification 16 November
2000/Accepted 16 February 2001
In order to define more accurately human immunodeficiency
virus-infected patients at risk of developing toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE), we assessed the prognostic significance of the
anti-Toxoplasma gondii immunoglobulin G (IgG) immunoblot
profile, in addition to AIDS stage, a CD4+ cell count
<50/mm3, and an antibody titer
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.3.579-584.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Immunoblot Profile as Predictor of Toxoplasmic
Encephalitis in Patients Infected with Human Immunodeficiency
Virus
150 IU/ml, in patients
with CD4 cell counts <200/mm3 and seropositive for
T. gondii. Baseline serum samples from 152 patients
included in the placebo arm of the ANRS 005-ACTG 154 trial
(pyrimethamine versus placebo) were used. The IgG immunoblot profile
was determined using a Toxoplasma lysate and read using the Kodak Digital Science 1D image analysis software. Mean follow-up was 15.1 months, and the 1-year incidence of TE was 15.9%. The cumulative probability of TE varied according to the type and number of
anti-T. gondii IgG bands and reached 65% at 12 months for patients with IgG bands of 25 and 22 kDa. In a Cox model adjusted for age, gender, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) clinical stage, and CD4 and CD8 cell counts, the incidence of TE was
higher when the IgG 22-kDa band (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.4; P < 0.001), the IgG 25-kDa band (HR = 4.7;
P < 0.001), or the IgG 69-kDa band (HR = 3.4;
P < 0.001) was present and was higher for patients
at CDC stage C (HR = 4.9; P < 0.001).
T. gondii antibody titer and CD4 cell count were not
predictive of TE. Thus, detection of IgG bands of 25, 22, and/or 69 kDa
may be helpful for deciding when primary prophylaxis for TE
should be started or discontinued, especially in the era of highly
active antiretroviral therapy.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de
Recherche en Pathologie Infectieuse, Faculté Xavier Bichat, 46 rue Henri Huchard, 75018 Paris, France. Phone: 33 40 25 78 03. Fax: 33 40 25 88 60. E-mail:
catherine.leport{at}bcb.ap-hop-paris.fr.
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