Comparison of cell-fusing activity of brain suspensions from patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other degenerative neurological diseases.
In vitro cell-fusing activity of brain suspensions from 33 patients with transmissible cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was compared to activity of brains from 26 patients with a variety of other degenerative neurological diseases, and with activity of brains from 25 patients without neurological disease. A significantly higher proportion of CJD brains (61%) was positive than other neurologically diseased brains (31-35%) or the brains without neurological disease (0-4%). Although not yet sufficiently specific to be useful as a diagnostic test for human CJD, the assay nevertheless opens a line of investigation into the pathophysiology of degenerative neurological diseases and could prove immediately useful in rapidly locating material of maximum interest in purification procedures for experimental spongiform encephalopathy virus.
D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002459:Cell Fusion; D002908:Chronic Disease; D007562:Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*