title: Prions are secreted in milk from clinically normal scrapie-exposed sheep.
abstract: The potential spread of prion infectivity in secreta is a crucial concern for prion disease transmission. Here, serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) allowed the detection of prions in milk from clinically affected animals as well as scrapie-exposed sheep at least 20 months before clinical onset of disease, irrespective of the immunohistochemical detection of protease-resistant PrP(Sc) within lymphoreticular and central nervous system tissues. These data indicate the secretion of prions within milk during the early stages of disease progression and a role for milk in prion transmission. Furthermore, the application of sPMCA to milk samples offers a noninvasive methodology to detect scrapie during preclinical/subclinical disease.
authors.affiliation: ADAS UK, Department of Biology, University of Leicester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Maddison
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Rees
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Terry
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Bellworthy
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Whitelam
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Gough
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007774:Lactation; D008892:Milk / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D012608:Scrapie / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000635:transmission; D012756:Sheep
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins