title: Characterization of scrapie-infected and normal hamster blood as an experimental model for TSE-infected human blood.
abstract: Ideally, the distribution and separation properties of blood-associated infectivity in humans infected with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) would be investigated using endogenously infected human blood. However, technical limitations prevent these studies. We report here an extensive comparison of component separations of TSE-infected and normal hamster blood with normal human blood to evaluate its suitability as a model for TSE-infected human blood. Two leukotrap filtration systems were used to assess the similarities and differences in cell separation and distribution between human and hamster blood. Human-sized units of scrapie-infected hamster whole blood pools were produced, leukoreduced and processed following current standard blood bank procedures. Three centrifugation steps were performed, and all but one centrifugation resulted in cell separations both similar to those obtained with human blood and in compliance with the American Association of Blood Banks standards. Analysis of white blood cell removal by leukoreduction indicated that all filters performed within specification. The only deviation from human blood was for hamster platelets, which were not retained by the whole blood leukoreduction filter and partitioned together with red blood cells when blood was centrifuged to produce platelet rich plasma. This study indicates that hamster blood is a realistic substitute for human blood for investigations of the component distribution of TSE infectivity in blood.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Service, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland 21201-1524, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gregori
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Rohwer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D002498:Centrifugation; D006224:Cricetinae; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008647:Mesocricetus; D023421:Models, Animal; D017096:Prion Diseases / Q000097:blood*