title: Evidence for an early inflammatory response in the central nervous system of mice with scrapie.
abstract: In Alzheimer's disease, the most prevalent of the neurodegenerative diseases, inflammation of the CNS contributes to the pathology and is a target for therapy. In contrast, the group of neurodegenerative conditions known as the Prion Diseases have been widely reported as lacking any inflammatory elements despite the many similarities between the pathologies of Alzheimer's Disease and Prion Diseases We have found evidence for an inflammatory component in mouse scrapie, characterized by microglial activation and T-lymphocyte recruitment, which appears long before any clinical signs of the disease and spreads along well-defined anatomical pathways. These observations emphasize the potential value of murine scrapie as a model for studying the inflammatory pathology of other neurodegenerative diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, U.K.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Betmouni
authors.forename: V H
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gordon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000473:pathology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012608:Scrapie / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors