• Cinara de Cássia Brandão de Mattos, Lígia Cosentino Junqueira Franco Spegiorin, Cristina da Silva Meira, Thaís da Costa Silva, Ana Iara da Costa Ferreira, Fabiana Nakashima, Vera Lúcia Pereira-Chioccola, and MattosLuiz Carlos deLC.
• Immunogenetics Laboratory, Department of Molecular Biology, São José do Rio Preto, Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2011 Jan 1; 129 (4): 261266261-6.

Context And ObjectiveToxoplasmosis transmission during pregnancy can cause severe sequelae in fetuses and newborns. Maternal antibodies may be indicators of risk or immunity. The aim here was to evaluate seropositivity for anti-Toxoplasma gondii (anti-T. gondii) immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and IgG avidity in pregnant women and their newborn infants.Design And SettingCross-sectional study in a high-risk pregnancy outpatient clinic.MethodsSerum samples from pregnant women (n = 87) and their respective newborns (n = 87) were evaluated for anti-T. gondii antibodies using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) (IgM and IgG), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (IgG) and an avidity test.ResultsAnti-T. gondii antibodies were identified in 64.4% of the serum samples from the mothers and their infants (56/87). Except for two maternal serum samples (2.3%), all others were negative for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies, using IIF. The results showed that 92.9% of the pregnant women had high IgG avidity indexes (> 30%) and four samples had avidity indexes between 16 and 30%. Two women in the third trimester of pregnancy were positive for anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies; their babies had avidity indexes between 16 and 30%. The avidity indexes of serum from the other 83 newborns were similar to the results from their mothers.ConclusionsThe results showed that 2% of the pregnant women were at risk of T. gondii transmission during the gestational period. These data seem to reflect the real situation of gestational toxoplasmosis in the northwestern region of the state of São Paulo.

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