文章基本信息

标题：Detection of Prions in Blood of Cervids at the Asymptomatic Stage of Chronic Wasting Disease
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作者：Carlos Kramm ; Sandra Pritzkow ; Adam Lyon 等
期刊名称：Scientific Reports
电子版ISSN：2045-2322
出版年度：2017
卷号：7
期号：1
页码：17241
DOI：10.1038/s41598-017-17090-x
语种：English
出版社：Springer Nature
摘要：Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a rapidly spreading prion disorder affecting captive and free-ranging cervids. The zoonotic potential of CWD is unknown, as well as the mechanism for its highly efficient transmission. A top priority to minimize further spreading of this disease and its potential impact on environmental prion contamination is the development of a non-invasive, sensitive, and specific test for ante-mortem detection of infected animals. Here, we optimized the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) assay for highly efficient detection of CWD prions in blood samples. Studies were done using a blind panel of 98 field-collected samples of whole blood from codon 96 glycine/glycine, captive white-tailed deer that were analyzed for prion infection post-mortem by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The results showed a sensitivity of 100% in animals with very poor body condition that were IHC-positive in both brain and lymph nodes, 96% in asymptomatic deer IHC-positive in brain and lymph nodes and 53% in animals at early stages of infection that were IHC-positive only in lymph nodes. The overall mean diagnostic sensitivity was 79.3% with 100% specificity. These findings show that PMCA might be useful as a blood test for routine, live animal diagnosis of CWD.