Assessment of the Sensitivity and Specificity of the Established Real-time Quaking-induced Conversion (RT-QuIC) Technique in Chinese CJD Surveillance

Abstract

Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay is a newly established PrP Sc-detecting method. The development of RT-QuIC improves the diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), showing good sensitivity and specificity in many countries when the method was used in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. However, in China, the sensitivity and specificity of RT-QuIC has yet to be determined due to the lack of definitive diagnosis samples. Recently, 30 definitive sCJD and 30 non-CJD diagnoses were evaluated by RT-QuIC assay. In the 30 sCJD CSF samples, 29 showed positive results. By contrast, all the non-CJD samples were negative. The sensitivity and specificity of our RT-QuIC assay were 96.67% and 100%, respectively, and are comparable to other published data. Results can provide a fundamental basis for the usage of RT-QuIC assay in CJD surveillance in China.