Replication of the scrapie agent in ocular neural tissues.
Optic nerves and retinas removed from hamsters experimentally inoculated with the scrapie agent contain a high titer of infectivity. Ophthalmoscopic examination of these animals revealed gross lesions of retinopathy as early as 3 weeks before the onset of clinical signs of brain degeneration. These results suggest that the scrapie agent may spread centrifugally in nerve fibers after intracerebral inoculation and that the scrapie-associated retinopathy seen in hamsters is directly induced by the agent rather than the result of retrograde degeneration from central neural damage.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology; D006224:Cricetinae; D008297:Male; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000382:microbiology*; D011328:Prions / Q000254:growth & development*; D012160:Retina / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012608:Scrapie / Q000382:microbiology*; D012756:Sheep; D013997:Time Factors; D014779:Virus Replication
D011328:Prions