title: Intranasal inoculation of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) with lyophilized chronic wasting disease prion particulate complexed to montmorillonite clay.
abstract: Chronic wasting disease (CWD), the only known prion disease endemic in wildlife, is a persistent problem in both wild and captive North American cervid populations. This disease continues to spread and cases are found in new areas each year. Indirect transmission can occur via the environment and is thought to occur by the oral and/or intranasal route. Oral transmission has been experimentally demonstrated and although intranasal transmission has been postulated, it has not been tested in a natural host until recently. Prions have been shown to adsorb strongly to clay particles and upon oral inoculation the prion/clay combination exhibits increased infectivity in rodent models. Deer and elk undoubtedly and chronically inhale dust particles routinely while living in the landscape while foraging and rutting. We therefore hypothesized that dust represents a viable vehicle for intranasal CWD prion exposure. To test this hypothesis, CWD-positive brain homogenate was mixed with montmorillonite clay (Mte), lyophilized, pulverized and inoculated intranasally into white-tailed deer once a week for 6 weeks. Deer were euthanized at 95, 105, 120 and 175 days post final inoculation and tissues examined for CWD-associated prion proteins by immunohistochemistry. Our results demonstrate that CWD can be efficiently transmitted utilizing Mte particles as a prion carrier and intranasal exposure.
authors.affiliation: National Wildlife Research Center, US Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. tracy.a.nichols@aphis.usda.gov
authors.forename: Tracy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.forename: Terry R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Spraker
authors.forename: Tara D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Rigg
authors.forename: Crystal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meyerett-Reid
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hoover
authors.forename: Brady
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: Jifeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bian
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoover
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gidlewski
authors.forename: Aru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balachandran
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Rourke
authors.forename: Glenn C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Telling
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Zabel
authors.forename: Kurt C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: VerCauteren
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000378:metabolism*; D001546:Bentonite / Q000378:metabolism; D000077215:Clay; D003670:Deer / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005612:Freeze Drying; D005838:Genotype; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008221:Lymphoid Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011328:Prions / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors; D034081:Wasting Disease, Chronic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000635:transmission
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D011328:Prions; D001546:Bentonite; D000077215:Clay