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Sabin-Feldman dye test

A method for the detection of anti-toxoplasma antibody in serum, based on the fact that toxoplasma gondii cells (from peritoneal exudate in mice) are fairly well stained with alkaline methylene blue, whereas organisms in a serum that contains specific antibody have no affinity for the dye; furthermore, normal toxoplasma cells become rounded, and the nucleus and cytoplasm deeply stained, when treated with the methylene blue; on the other hand, when dye is mixed with organisms and antibody, the cells retain their crescent shape and only the shrunken nuclear endosome is stained.