title: Fluorescence Spectroscopy of the Retina for the Screening of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.
abstract: Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) are progressive, neurodegenerative disorders, of which bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is of special concern because it is infectious and debilitating to humans. The possibility of using fluorescence spectroscopy to screen for BSE in cattle was explored. Fluorescence spectra from the retinas of experimentally infected BSE-positive cattle with clinical disease were compared with those from both sham-inoculated and non-inoculated BSE-negative cattle. The distinct intensity difference of about 4-10-fold between the spectra of the BSE-positive and the BSE-negative (sham-inoculated and non-inoculated) eyes suggests the basis for a means of developing a rapid, noninvasive examination of BSE in particular and TSEs in general.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University , Ames, Iowa, United States.|U.S. Department of Energy Ames Laboratory , Ames, Iowa, United States.
authors.forename: Ujjal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Bhattacharjee
authors.affiliation: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Center for Animal Disease, Lethbridge Laboratory , Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Center for Animal Disease, Lethbridge Laboratory , Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Czub
authors.affiliation: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, National Center for Animal Disease, Lethbridge Laboratory , Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: Sandor
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dudas
authors.affiliation: Leopold Center, Iowa State University , Ames, Iowa, United States.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University , Ames, Iowa, United States.
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Casey
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Iowa State University , Ames, Iowa, United States.|U.S. Department of Energy Ames Laboratory , Ames, Iowa, United States.
authors.forename: Jacob W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Petrich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D016643:Encephalopathy, Bovine Spongiform / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012160:Retina / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*
keywords: bovine spongiform encephalopathy; fluorescence spectroscopy; lipofuscin; retinal scan; transmissible spongiform encephalopathy