EVALUATION OF GRA6 AS GENETIC MARKER FOR DETERMINING GENOTYPE IN THE CEREBROSPINAL FLUID OF HIV/AIDS PATIENTS WITH TOXOPLASMIC ENCEPHALITIS.

Background: Toxoplasmic encephalitis is a severe manifestation of infection, with potentially fatal outcomes, particularly among immunocompromised patients. Clinical manifestation of this infection is associated with a specific genotype of , requiring the use of genetic marker for genotype determination.

Aims: This study critically evaluated the application of GRA6 gene as genetic marker for genotyping in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from HIV/AIDS patients diagnosed with Toxoplasmic encephalitis.

Methods: The study analyzed 69 CSF samples from HIV/AIDS patients with Toxoplasmic encephalitis. These samples tested positive for IgG serology and SAG2 PCR, while GRA6 genotyping was conducted using PCR-sequencing methods.

Results: The results showed that GRA6 had potential for genotyping in positive control settings from culture cells. However, there was limited effectiveness in CSF samples from Toxoplasmic encephalitis patients.

Conclusion: GRA6 had been proven effective as a genetic marker for the identification of genotype among HIV/AIDS patients with Toxoplasmic encephalitis. However, the evaluation of GRA6 showed more effectiveness in cultured cells compared to direct clinical samples, such as cerebrospinal fluid obtained from HIV/AIDS patients with Toxoplasmic encephalitis.