Abstract
Exposure of human populations to bovine spongiform encephalopathy through contaminated food has resulted in <250 cases of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). However, more than 99% of vCJD infections could have remained silent suggesting a long-term risk of secondary transmission particularly through blood. Here, we present experimental evidence that transfusion in mice and non-human primates of blood products from symptomatic and non-symptomatic infected donors induces not only vCJD, but also a different class of neurological impairments. These impairments can all be retransmitted to mice with a pathognomonic accumulation of abnormal prion protein, thus expanding the spectrum of known prion diseases. Our findings suggest that the intravenous route promotes propagation of masked prion variants according to different mechanisms involved in peripheral replication.
Highlights
Exposure of human populations to bovine spongiform encephalopathy through contaminated food has resulted in
Neurological impairments are transmitted to recipients in these two animal models using blood infectivity and brain infectivity
We injected 70 mice and 11 macaques intravenously (IV) with soluble brain extracts derived from Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)- or variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD)-infected donors; the extracts were obtained according to protocols designed to mimic blood infectivity[17]
Summary
Exposure of human populations to bovine spongiform encephalopathy through contaminated food has resulted in
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.