NR AAXL
AU Baldauf,E.; Beekes,M.; Diringer,H.
TI Evidence for an alternative direct route of access for the scrapie agent to the brain bypassing the spinal cord
QU Journal of General Virology 1997 May; 78(5): 1187-97
IA http://vir.sgmjournals.org/cgi/reprint/78/5/1187
PT journal article
AB Scrapie is a disease which occurs naturally in sheep and goats and belongs to a group of neurodegenerative disorders known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, or TSEs. There is currently no cure for TSEs, and the causative agent has not yet been identified. Numerous experiments, however, have addressed the pathogenetic process following a TSE infection. In this paper we present a study of the spread of the scrapie agent after intraperitoneal infection of hamsters. The accumulation of TSE-specific amyloid protein, TSE-AP (also known as PrP), was used as a marker for infectivity. The data suggested three points of agent entry into the spinal cord: the most important one between thoracic vertebrae T7-9, and two minor ones in the lower cervical spinal cord and between vertebrae T13-L2. Further, strong evidence was found for the existence of a direct route of access to the brain which bypasses the spinal cord and most likely terminates in the medulla oblongata. The indication of an alternative pathway to the brain was confirmed by the data from orally infected hamsters. The spleen appeared to play a potential, but non-essential role in pathogenesis after intraperitoneal infection in our animal model.
ZR 46 Zitate
IN Die Autoren verfolgten die Ausbreitung des TSE-spezifischen Prionproteins in intraperitoneal inokulierten oder oral infizierten Hamstern. Sie meinen, dass die Infektiosität hauptsächlich im Bereich der Brustwirbel T7-9, aber auch im unterern Halsbereich und im Bereich zwischen dem Brustwirbel T13 und dem Lendenwirbel L-2 in das Rückenmark eindringt. Sie sehen aber auch Anzeichen dafür, dass der Erreger unter Umgehung des Rückenmarkes direkt in das Gehirn eindringen kann. Bei der Verbreitung der proteaseresistenten Prionproteine in intraperitoneal infizierten Hamstern kann die Milz eine Rolle spielen, muß es aber offenbar nicht.
MH Administration, Oral; Animals; Brain/*metabolism/pathology; Central Nervous System/metabolism; Cricetinae; Endopeptidase K/metabolism; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Mesocricetus; PrPsc Proteins/*metabolism; Prion Diseases/*metabolism/pathology; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Spinal Cord/*metabolism/pathology; Spleen/metabolism
AD Robert Koch-Institut, Bundesinstitut für Infektionskrankheiten und nichtübertragbare Krankheiten, Berlin, Germany.
SP englisch
PO England