Molecular diagnosis of toxoplasmosis: recent advances and a look to the future

Toxoplasmosis is a globally distributed parasitic infection that can be particularly severe when opportunistic or congenital. Its diagnosis requires accurate and rapid techniques that rely mainly on serology and molecular methods.

The aim of this review was to discuss the positioning of the molecular diagnosis of toxoplasmosis according to the different clinical situations possibly resulting from infection with T. gondii, and to detail recent developments in this technique. The English and French literature were searched with the following keywords: 'Toxoplasmosis', "Molecular diagnosis" and 'PCR'.

Molecular techniques have revolutionized the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis, and practices have considerably evolved over the past decades. However, there is still a high degree of inter-laboratory heterogeneity which impairs comparisons between results and studies. Efforts to standardize practices are underway.