ABSTRACT
The goal of the present study was to investigate whether protease-resistant prion protein (PrPres) occurs in plasma samples of offspring of cows that developed bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE; group A) and to compare the prevalence with that of a healthy control group in 2006 (Group B). Group A consisted of 181 offspring of cows that developed BSE and group B consisted of 240 healthy animals from a region in Switzerland where no cases of BSE occurred from 2001 to the end of 2006. All plasma samples were evaluated using Alicon PrioTrap, an antemortem test for PrPres. The time between birth of the offspring and onset of BSE in the dam was calculated to determine its relationship with the presence of PrPres in the plasma of the offspring. From 181 offspring, 29 (16.1%) had PrPres-positive plasma samples. Offspring that were born within one year of the onset of BSE in the dam had a significantly higher prevalence of PrPres-positive plasma samples than those born more than one year before the onset of BSE in the dam. Ten (4.2%) of 240 control cattle had PrPres-positive plasma samples. Thus, PrPres can be detected in bovine blood and occurs more frequently in the offspring of cows that develop BSE than in cattle of a healthy control population.
Subject(s)
Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform/blood , Peptide Hydrolases/pharmacology , PrPSc Proteins/drug effects , Prion Diseases/veterinary , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Cattle , Disease Transmission, Infectious/veterinary , Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform/drug therapy , Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform/transmission , Female , Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/veterinary , Male , PrPSc Proteins/metabolism , PrPSc Proteins/pathogenicity , Prion Diseases/blood , Prion Diseases/drug therapy , Prion Diseases/transmissionABSTRACT
Amplification by polymerase chain reaction and subsequent DNA enzyme immunoassay (DEIA) were employed to determine the number of genome equivalents of cell-free Epstein Barr virus (EBV) DNA in peripheral blood. The assay detected cell-free EBV DNA in the serum of 14 out of 18 patients with primary, productive EBV infection (sensitivity 77.7%) but not in healthy EBV carriers with latent infection (specificity 100%). Our assay has the potential for a clinical diagnostic tool to monitor patients at risk for EBV reactivation and productive infection with subsequent EBV-induced lymphoproliferative diseases.
