Distinction of scrapie phenotypes in sheep by lesion profiling

Major determinants of the pathological phenotype of natural scrapie are considered to be the agent strain and host prion protein (PrP) genotype, but the relationship between these is far from clear. Little is known about the strains that produce natural scrapie. A method of brain vacuolation profiling was developed which enables this aspect of disease phenotype to be characterized in detail. This method distinguished at least two distinct pathological phenotypes in sheep of a single genotype (ARQ/ARQ) from different flocks in the UK. Great similarity was also demonstrated between one of these phenotypes and the phenotype of sheep from a flock in Sardinia. The profile of four sheep of the same ARQ/ARQ genotype experimentally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was determined for comparison. It would appear from these preliminary observations that the application of lesion profiling techniques to ovine transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) may contribute to the definition of a particular scrapie phenotype within a flock. It may, therefore, have potential for improving our understanding of current TSE phenotypes in sheep, with regard to the possibility of identifying those of bovine origin.