Study On Epidemiological Survey And Pharmacotherapy Of Toxoplasmosis For Dogs And Cats In Shanghai

Toxoplasma gondii infection is one of the most common parasitic infections of man and other warm-blooded animals. The disease mostly occurs in puppies and cats, natural infection is inapparent infection, People could be infected when they are closely contact with the dog and cat which carrying toxoplasma. Cats and other felines are the definitive hosts and stray cats are probably the major source of contamination as they produce large number of oocysts. Humans and the other intermediate hosts may acquire toxoplasmosis by eating food that have rolled over in infected cat feces. Toxoplasmosis is one of the zoonosis controlled importantly.As the increasing number of domestic dogs or cats in cantonal area in Shanghai, more than eighty thousand dogs with certificates have been registered, in which almost thirty thousand dogs have been certificated in the center of city. But several hundred thousand dogs have not been certificated, it’s very important to master the epidemiology information of toxoplasmosis and screen safe and high effective drugs to prevent toxoplasmosis outbreak preferably and secure the health of the residents in the city.The purpose of this study was to understand the infection and morbidity information of pets in Shanghai by antibody determination and etiology analysis of toxoplasma in blood samples. The samples included 1335 blood samples of dogs which were collected at pet clinic service from 2001 to 2009,2008 blood samples of dogs with certificates which were from center city in 2009, and 165 blood samples of cats which were from three places where cats were adopted in Shanghai.At the same time, the effectiveness of eight kinds of Traditional Chinese Medicine and western drugs to toxoplasma was investigated in vitro, and eighteen kinds of Traditional Chinese Medicine and western drugs and compound recipe of Chinese Medicine and western drugs to toxoplasma were investigated in vivo. In order to find safe and highly effective drugs for preventing toxoplasmosis, the screened drugs with good effectiveness were studied further by administration to Beagles which were artificially infected with toxoplasma. The experiment results were as follow:1. The antibody of 1335 serum samples of dogs which were collected at pet clinic services from 2001 to 2009 was analyzed. The suspect cases were further detected by Nested- PCR, microscopic examination after dyeing and treatment by using sulfonamides. The results indicated that there were still some dogs infected by toxoplasm. Fortunately, the prevention and cure measures have some effects on decreasing the infection of toxoplasm.2. After the epidemiologic studies of the dogs in the center city in 2009, the results showed that mean positive rates of antibody of the dogs was 1.49%. The lowest positive rate of toxoplasmosis of the dogs at Jing An area was 0.4% and the highest positive rate of Toxoplasmosis of the dogs at Yang Pu area was 2.49%. The positive rate of toxoplasmosis of the stray cats was 14.5%. It showed that it was important to prevent and control stray cats which infected toxoplasmosis, therefore, we should pay highly attention to it.3. Eight kinds of drugs were screened by cell culture in vitro. The results showed that sulfadiazine sodium, HWJ and the traditional Chinese medicine (Baicalin) had good effectiveness on inhibiting the toxoplasma proliferation. Among them, HWJ had the best effectiveness on inhibiting the toxoplasma proliferation and it would be an ideal drug for preventing toxoplasmosis.4. The therapeutical effects of eighteen kinds of Traditional Chinese Medicines and western drugs were studied by administration to mice which were infected with toxoplasma artificially. The results indicated that HWJ had the best effectiveness, and the mice were continuously orally administered HWJ for five days at dosage of 200～250 mg·kg-1. The earlier treatment the better effectiveness would be found.5. The compound recipe of the Traditional Chinese Medicines and western drugs had significant effectiveness on treatment toxoplasm. It confirmed that the combination of these two kinds of drugs had synergistic action. Although the dosage of western drugs was reduced, good therapeutic effect still could be found. It will provide a basis for rational administration for treating toxoplasmosis clinically.6. The effectiveness of combination HWJ, scutellaria and glycyrrhiza uralensis was primarily studied by administration to two month old of Beagles which were infected with toxoplasma artificially. The symptom of febricity could be reduced quickly. The time of blood with toxoplasm and the peak values of circulating antigen (CAg) of serum were lower than these of positive control group. The speed of Toxoplasma-emia and CAg of serum changed to negative faster than that of positive control group. The results indicated that combination of HWJ with scutellaria and glycyrrhiza uralensis could effectively treat toxoplasmosis with little side effect under therapeutic dosage.