Seven main threats for the future linked to prions

[flounder]

Seven main threats for the future linked to prions

The NeuroPrion network has identified seven main threats for the future linked to prions.

First threat

The TSE road map defining the evolution of European policy for protection against prion diseases is based on a certain numbers of hypotheses some of which may turn out to be erroneous. In particular, a form of BSE (called atypical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), recently identified by systematic testing in aged cattle without clinical signs, may be the origin of classical BSE and thus potentially constitute a reservoir, which may be impossible to eradicate if a sporadic origin is confirmed. Also, a link is suspected between atypical BSE and some apparently sporadic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. These atypical BSE cases constitute an unforeseen first threat that could sharply modify the European approach to prion diseases.

Second threat

In small ruminants, a new atypical form of scrapie currently represents up to 50% of detected cases and even involves sheep selected for resistance to classical scrapie. The consequences for animal and human health are still unknown and there may be a potential connection with atypical BSE. These atypical scrapie cases constitute a second threat not envisioned previously which could deeply modify the European approach to prion diseases.

Third threat

The species barrier between human and cattle might be weaker than previously expected and the risk of transmission of prion diseases between different species has been notoriously unpredictable. The emergence of new atypical strains in cattle and sheep together with the spread of chronic wasting disease in cervids renders the understanding of the species barrier critical. This constitutes a third threat not properly envisioned previously that could deeply modify the European approach to prion diseases.

Fourth threat

Prion infectivity has now been detected in blood, urine and milk and this has potential consequences on risk assessments for the environment and food as well as for contamination of surfaces including medical instruments. Furthermore the procedures recommended for decontamination of MBM (Meat and Bone Meal), which are based on older methodologies not designed for this purpose, have turned out to be of very limited efficacy and compromise current policies concerning the reuse of these high value protein supplements (cross-contamination of feed circuits are difficult to control). It should be noted that the destruction or very limited use of MBM is estimated to still cost 1 billion euros per year to the European economy,

whereas other countries, including the US,

Brazil, and Argentine do not have these constraints.

However, many uncertainties remain concerning the guarantees that can be reasonably provided for food and feed safety and scientific knowledge about the causative agents (prions) will continue to evolve. This decontamination and environmental issue is a fourth threat that could modify deeply the European approach to prion diseases.

Fifth threat The precise nature of prions remains elusive. Very recent data indicate that abnormal prion protein (PrPTSE) can be generated from the brains of normal animals, and under some conditions (including contaminated waste water) PrPTSE can be destroyed whereas the BSE infectious titre remains almost unchanged, a finding that underlines the possibility of having BSE without any detectable diagnostic marker. These are just two areas of our incomplete knowledge of the fundamental biology of prions which constitute a fifth threat to the European approach to prion diseases.

Sixth threat The absence of common methods and standardisation in the evaluation of multiple in vivo models with different prion strains and different transgenic mice expressing PrP from different species (different genotypes of cattle, sheep, cervids, etc) renders a complete and comprehensive analysis of all the data generated by the different scientific groups almost impossible. This deeply impairs risk assessment. Moreover, the possibility of generating PrPTSE de novo with new powerful techniques has raised serious questions about their appropriateness for use as blood screening tests. The confusion about an incorrect interpretation of positive results obtained by these methods constitutes a sixth threat to European approach to prion diseases.

Seventh Threat The detection of new or re-emerging prion diseases in animals or humans which could lead to a new crisis in consumer confidence over the relaxation of precautionary measures and surveillance programmes constitutes a seventh threat that could modify the European approach to prion diseases.

http://www.neuroprion.org/en/np-neuroprion.html

Research Lead: Dr. David Westaway, University of Alberta

Project: "Extending the spectrum of Prionopathies to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Autism"

This project proposes to link the chemistry of the prion protein to the new territory of other nervous system diseases, such as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and the socialization disorder autism-diseases which are at least one thousand times more common than prion diseases. It is believed that a different type or prion protein may operate in other types of brain diseases, which could lead to new ways of thinking about incurable disorders. The project will create changes in the amounts of the various forms of the new membrane protein, and then perform an array of analyses on the behavior and nervous system transmission of laboratory mice. Nervous transmission by electrical impulse can be measured in isolated brain cells, a system that is also convenient to study the effect of stress by adding small amounts of toxins to the fluids bathing the cultures. By these means, the project aims to extend the boundaries of what is considered "prion disease."

Funding: $520,500

http://www.prioninstitute.ca/index.php?page=webpages&menucat=42&id=26&action=displaypage&side=1

Unfolding the Prion Mystery Building and Growing Research Expertise in Alberta Year 4 2008-2009 Annual Report

Dr. David Westaway, University of Alberta Extending the spectrum of prionopathies to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and autism Dr. Westaway’s study aims to extend the boundaries of what is considered prion disease. His project takes the chemistry of the prion protein into the territory of nervous system diseases such as ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and socialization disorder diseases such as autism. These brain diseases are at least 1,000 times more common than diseases currently accepted as prion related. Dr. Westaway hypothesizes that a different type of protein misfolding may operate in brain diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s and autism. This type of protein misfolding may occur in response to stresses in the brain. Unlike misfolded prions, other misfolded proteins may be noninfectious and not viable outside of the affected animal. Dr. Westaway’s research team will investigate these hypotheses by inducing changes in the brain cells of laboratory mice, measuring the resulting electrical impulses in the animals’ nervous systems and analyzing the effect on behaviour. Because nervous transmission by electrical impulse can be measured in isolated brain cells, adding small amounts of toxins to the fluids bathing the cell cultures will make it possible to study the effect of stress. The results could lead to new ways of thinking about nervous system disorders.

http://www.prioninstitute.ca/forms/WEBSITE%20AR.pdf

102 Causes of Death and Neuropathology in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Medical Examiner Perspective Kenneth Hutchins1, Mariana Nunez2, Carol Petito2. 1Miami Dade County Medical Examiner Department; 2University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Pathology

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by abnormalities in how patients relate to and communicate with others and their environment. It develops in as many as 1 in 150 children and may be associated with co-morbid disorders including seizures and mental retardation. Because ASD reduces life expectancies, we reviewed autopsy records of 22 consecutive cases from two south Florida Medical Examiner Departments over a 10 year period and correlated cause of death (COD) with clinical history and neuropathology. Patient ages averaged 18±11 yrs and ranged from 3-51 years; 16 were male and 11 were children <18 yrs. 13 were white and 9 were black. Associated disorders included seizures in 6, mental retardation in 2 and one each with Down Syndrome (DS) or schizophrenia. 73% of cases had ASD-related CODs that included accidental drowning in 5, seizures in 4, asphyxia or adverse drug reactions in 3 each, and suicide in 2. Non-ASD CODs included infections (2), passengers in car accidents (2) and coronary artery disease. 5 of 11 children suffered accidental drowning in lakes or ponds, 2 had seizures and one each suffered an adverse drug reaction, MVA, food aspiration or infection. The average brain weight of the adults between 18 and 51 yrs. was 1266±130 g, exclusive of three with brain edema, and of children between 6 and 12 yrs. was 1344±93 g. Pathology changes included gyral pattern of DS, microcephaly, hippocampal or cerebellar atrophy, acute meningitis and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. These results are consistent with prior studies showing that common CODs in this patient population are seizures and accidents such as asphyxia and drowning. They suggest that drowning and suicide in ASD patients are age-related whereas seizure-related deaths are not. We also found a trend for decreased brain weight in adults with ASD as compared with children with ASD.

Back to Top | Article Outline

http://journals.lww.com/jneuropath/Fulltext/2010/05000/American_Association_of_Neuropathologists,_Inc__.9.aspx

Are some commoner types of neurodegenerative disease (including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease) also transmissible? Some recent scientific research has suggested this possibility

Could cases of protease sensitive prionopathy (PSP) be missed by conventional tests which, in all other TSEs, rely on the resistance of the prion protein in the nervous system that accompanies disease to digestion by protease enzymes?

Can we develop reliable methods for removing and detecting protein on re-usable surgical instruments?

SNIP...

FULL TEXT ;

Monday, October 12, 2009

SEAC Science and Technology Committee's investigation of research funding priorities on behalf of the Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens TSE 8 October 2009

http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2009/10/seac-science-and-technology-committees.html



Sunday, July 18, 2010

Alzheimer's Assocition International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (updated diagnostic criteria) 2010 July 10 - 15 Honolulu, Hawaii


http://betaamyloidcjd.blogspot.com/2010/07/alzheimers-assocition-international.html


http://betaamyloidcjd.blogspot.com/


Saturday, April 24, 2010

New connection between Alzheimer’s and prionic illnesses discovered

http://betaamyloidcjd.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-connection-between-alzheimers-and.html



National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Cases Examined1 (July 31, 2010)

(please see video at the bottom of this url...tss)

http://prionunitusaupdate2008.blogspot.com/2010/08/national-prion-disease-pathology.html


Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy: A new sporadic disease of the prion protein

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2010/08/variably-protease-sensitive-prionopathy.html


Monday, August 9, 2010

Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy: A new sporadic disease of the prion protein or just more Prionbaloney ?

http://prionunitusaupdate2008.blogspot.com/2010/08/variably-protease-sensitive-prionopathy.html


ALABAMA MAD COW g-h-BSEalabama

In this study, we identified a novel mutation in the bovine prion protein gene (Prnp), called E211K, of a confirmed BSE positive cow from Alabama, United States of America. This mutation is identical to the E200K pathogenic mutation found in humans with a genetic form of CJD. This finding represents the first report of a confirmed case of BSE with a potential pathogenic mutation within the bovine Prnp gene. We hypothesize that the bovine Prnp E211K mutation most likely has caused BSE in "the approximately 10-year-old cow" carrying the E221K mutation.

http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000156

http://www.plospathogens.org/article/fetchObjectAttachment.action?uri=info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.ppat.1000156&representation=PDF


Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Heterozygosity at Polymorphic Codon 219 in Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Vol. 67 No. 8, August 2010

http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2010/08/heterozygosity-at-polymorphic-codon-219.html


Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Atypical BSE in Cattle

To date the OIE/WAHO assumes that the human and animal health standards set out in the BSE chapter for classical BSE (C-Type) applies to all forms of BSE which include the H-type and L-type atypical forms. This assumption is scientifically not completely justified and accumulating evidence suggests that this may in fact not be the case. Molecular characterization and the spatial distribution pattern of histopathologic lesions and immunohistochemistry (IHC) signals are used to identify and characterize atypical BSE. Both the L-type and H-type atypical cases display significant differences in the conformation and spatial accumulation of the disease associated prion protein (PrPSc) in brains of afflicted cattle. Transmission studies in bovine transgenic and wild type mouse models support that the atypical BSE types might be unique strains because they have different incubation times and lesion profiles when compared to C-type BSE. When L-type BSE was inoculated into ovine transgenic mice and Syrian hamster the resulting molecular fingerprint had changed, either in the first or a subsequent passage, from L-type into C-type BSE. In addition, non-human primates are specifically susceptible for atypical BSE as demonstrated by an approximately 50% shortened incubation time for L-type BSE as compared to C-type. Considering the current scientific information available, it cannot be assumed that these different BSE types pose the same human health risks as C-type BSE or that these risks are mitigated by the same protective measures.

This study will contribute to a correct definition of specified risk material (SRM) in atypical BSE. The incumbent of this position will develop new and transfer existing, ultra-sensitive methods for the detection of atypical BSE in tissue of experimentally infected cattle.

http://www.prionetcanada.ca/detail.aspx?menu=5&dt=293380&app=93&cat1=387&tp=20&lk=no&cat2




snip...


please see all seven threats listed in the USA, and more...FULL TEXT ;



Thursday, August 12, 2010

Seven main threats for the future linked to prions


http://prionpathy.blogspot.com/2010/08/seven-main-threats-for-future-linked-to.html


http://prionpathy.blogspot.com/




Terry S. Singeltary Sr.
P.O. Box 42
Bacliff, Texas USA 77518
flounder9@verizon.net