Development of a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction tool for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii in meat samples

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Infection in humans has usually been related to the consumption of raw, undercooked or cured meat. The aim of this study was to develop a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR)-based assay for the detection and quantification of T. gondii in meat samples. To optimize the ddPCR, T.gondii reference DNA aliquots at five known concentrations: 8000 cg/µl, 800 cg/µl, 80 cg/µl, 8 cg/µl were used. Moreover, results obtained by ddPCR and quantitative PCR (qPCR) were compared using 80 known samples (40 positive and 40 negative), as well as 171 unknown diaphragm tissue samples collected at slaughterhouses. The ddPCR showed a sensitivity of 97.5% and a specificity of 100%, with a detection limit of 8 genomic copy/µl of T. gondii. A nearly perfect agreement (κ = 0.85) was found between results obtained by ddPCR and qPCR for both positive and negative known samples analysed. On the 171 diaphragm tissue samples from field, 7.6% resulted positive by ddPCR and only 1.2% by qPCR. Therefore, this innovative method could be very useful for the detection of T. gondii in meat samples, aiming to prevent human infections.