title: Three serial passages of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in sheep do not significantly affect discriminatory test results.
abstract: During the 1980s, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)-contaminated meat and bonemeal were probably fed to sheep, raising concerns that BSE may have been transmitted to sheep in the UK. The human disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, arose during the BSE epidemic, and oral exposure of humans to BSE-infected tissues has been implicated in its aetiology. The concern is that sheep BSE could provide another source of BSE exposure to humans via sheep products. Two immunological techniques, Western immunoblotting (WB) and immunohistochemistry (IHC), have been developed to distinguish scrapie from cases of experimental sheep BSE by the characteristics of their respective abnormal, disease-associated prion proteins (PrP(d)). This study compares the WB and IHC characteristics of PrP(d) from brains of primary, secondary and tertiary experimental ovine BSE cases with those of cattle BSE and natural sheep scrapie. Discrimination between experimental sheep BSE and scrapie remained possible by both methods, regardless of the route of challenge.
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stack
authors.affiliation: VLA, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: VLA, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jeffrey
authors.affiliation: VLA, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Pentlands Science Park, Bush Loan, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Macaldowie
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chaplin
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Jemma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sayers
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bramwell
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grimmer
authors.affiliation: Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, Addlestone, Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Sue
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellworthy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002417:Cattle; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000635:transmission; D012692:Serial Passage; D012756:Sheep / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins