title: Sparse PrP(Sc) accumulation in the placentas of goats with naturally acquired scrapie.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Domestic goats (Capra hircus) are a natural and experimental host of scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) of sheep and cattle. Goats are also susceptible to experimental infection with the agents of TSEs of deer and elk (chronic wasting disease) and humans (Creutzfeldt Jakob disease). Distribution of PrPSc, the abnormal prion protein, is similar in the tissues of scrapie-infected sheep and goats but no data are available on the potential shedding of the agent through the placenta, the presumed route of transmission of ovine scrapie. We describe the sparse accumulation of PrPSc in the placentas of goats with naturally acquired classical scrapie in comparison to field cases of classical ovine scrapie.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PrPSc was detected in the shed placentas from a sample of U.S. goats with naturally occurring scrapie, diagnosed by antemortem lymphoid tissue biopsy or identified as high risk progeny of infected dams. PrPSc accumulation patterns in the intact placentome and western blot banding was similar in the caprine and ovine samples. However, levels of PrPSc estimated from ELISA and immunohistochemistry assays were generally lower in goats than in sheep, although wide variation was noted in both species.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PrPSc accumulates in the shed placentas of goats with naturally acquired scrapie. Although these levels were low in most caprine samples, the caprine placenta may contribute to prion contamination of kidding facilities and transmission to co-housed sheep or goats.
authors.affiliation: Animal Disease Research Unit, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. korourke@vetmed.wsu.edu
authors.forename: Katherine I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: O'Rourke
authors.forename: Dongyue
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Truscott
authors.forename: Huijan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy / Q000662:veterinary; D015153:Blotting, Western; D005260:Female; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006041:Goats; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018620:PrPSc Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012608:Scrapie / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D018620:PrPSc Proteins