Keywords :
Adolescent; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Blotting, Western; Brain Chemistry; Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome/diagnosis; Endopeptidase K/metabolism; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Middle Aged; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Prions/analysis/metabolism; Sensitivity and Specificity
Abstract :
[en] BACKGROUND: The most common human prion disorder is Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD); it includes sporadic, familial, iatrogenic, and variant subtypes. Diagnostic tests aim at detection with the highest specificity of very small deposits of abnormal prion protein (PrP). METHODS: We used immunoquantitative PCR (iqPCR) to detect proteinase K-resistant PrP (PrPRes) in tissue from the middle frontal gyrus of 7 patients with sporadic CJD and 7 non-CJD cases. We compared iqPCR with routine optimized ELISA, Western blotting, and immunohistochemical analyses. RESULTS: The 4 methods showed similar 100% sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of CJD. Along with high specificity, however, iqPCR had a threshold for PrP(Res) detection at least 10-fold lower than that of the classic ELISA. CONCLUSIONS: iqPCR is a new method for PrPRes detection that combines 100% specificity with a detection threshold at least 10-fold lower than classic techniques. This method may improve the detection of minute PrPRes deposits in tissues and body fluids and thus be useful for diagnostic and sterilization applications.
Disciplines :
Laboratory medicine & medical technology
Anatomy (cytology, histology, embryology...) & physiology
Biochemistry, biophysics & molecular biology
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without self-citations
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