OldDog/NewTricks
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New research could lead to BSE testing on live animals
By Ann Bagel Storck on 9/8/2008
The key to determining whether an animal has bovine spongiform encephalopathy could be in an unexpected place — its urine — according to scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory.
Working with scientists from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's BSE Reference Laboratories, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health in Germany and the University of Manitoba, the researchers found that changed levels of a protein in cattle urine indicates the presence of BSE with 100 percent accuracy in a small sample set. It was also determined that changes in the relative abundance of a set of proteins corresponded with the advancement of the disease.
The discovery could lead to the ability to perform accurate BSE diagnostic tests on live animals; currently, BSE testing can only be done postmortem.
"We are hopeful that at some point in the future the knowledge gained from this study will make it possible to test live cattle," said David Knox, lead researcher on the study. "It also may be possible to develop similar tests for other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in other species, including humans."
By Ann Bagel Storck on 9/8/2008
The key to determining whether an animal has bovine spongiform encephalopathy could be in an unexpected place — its urine — according to scientists at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory.
Working with scientists from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's BSE Reference Laboratories, the Federal Research Institute for Animal Health in Germany and the University of Manitoba, the researchers found that changed levels of a protein in cattle urine indicates the presence of BSE with 100 percent accuracy in a small sample set. It was also determined that changes in the relative abundance of a set of proteins corresponded with the advancement of the disease.
The discovery could lead to the ability to perform accurate BSE diagnostic tests on live animals; currently, BSE testing can only be done postmortem.
"We are hopeful that at some point in the future the knowledge gained from this study will make it possible to test live cattle," said David Knox, lead researcher on the study. "It also may be possible to develop similar tests for other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in other species, including humans."
