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Prion protein and the red cell

David J Anstee1

  • 1Bristol Institute for Transfusion Sciences, National Blood Service, Bristol, UK. david.anstee@nbs.nhs.uk

Current Opinion in Hematology
|April 7, 2007
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) may transmit through red blood cell transfusions. Filtration shows promise in removing infectivity from red cell preparations, potentially making transfusions safer.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Transfusion Medicine
  • Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Background:

  • Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder.
  • Transmission of vCJD through blood transfusion is a significant public health concern.
  • Red blood cell preparations are the most common transfusion product.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the risk of transfusion-transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) via red cell preparations.
  • To explore potential methods for mitigating vCJD transmission through blood products.

Main Methods:

  • Review of recent human cases of probable vCJD transfusion transmission.
  • Analysis of experimental data on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in rodents.
  • Evaluation of filtration techniques for removing infectivity from red cell preparations.

Main Results:

  • Three cases of probable vCJD transmission via red cell preparations have been reported.
  • Rodent TSE experiments indicate infectivity is in the red cell suspending medium, not the cells themselves.
  • Filtration effectively removed infectivity from rodent red cell preparations.

Conclusions:

  • Red cell preparations pose a risk for vCJD transmission.
  • Filtration may offer a method to remove vCJD infectivity from human red cell preparations.
  • This approach could enhance the safety of blood transfusions for vCJD prevention.

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