Semen from scrapie-infected rams does not transmit prion infection to transgenic mice.
Scrapie is the most common transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) in livestock. Natural contamination in sheep flocks is presumed to occur by maternal transmission to offspring. However, horizontal prion transmission from animal to animal exists and may be significant in sustaining and spreading contagion in the field. Artificial insemination is widely used in modern farming, and as large amounts of prion protein have been found in sheep sperm membrane, epididymal fluid and seminal plasma, horizontal transmission by this route was hypothesized since no clear information has been obtained on possible sexual transmission of TSE. We therefore tested the contamination levels of semen from scrapie-infected rams at different stages of incubation, including the clinical phase of the disease. We report here that under our experimental conditions ram semen did not transmit infectivity to scrapie-susceptible transgenic mice overexpressing the V(136)R(154)Q(171) allele of the sheep prion (PRNP) gene. These results suggest that artificial insemination and natural mating have a very low or negligible potential for the transmission of scrapie in sheep flocks.
Sarradin
Pierre
P
INRA, UR1282, Infectiologie Animale et Santé Publique (IASP), Nouzilly F-37380, France.
Melo
Sandrine
S
Barc
Céline
C
Lecomte
Céline
C
Andréoletti
Olivier
O
Lantier
Frédéric
F
Dacheux
Jean-Louis
JL
Gatti
Jean-Luc
JL
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious; D015870:Gene Expression; D005838:Genotype; D007267:Injections; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D023421:Models, Animal; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D012608:Scrapie / Q000635:transmission*; D012661:Semen; D034561:Sheep, Domestic
D018620:PrPSc Proteins