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Experimental scrapie in white Swiss mice.
1Agriculture Canada, Animal Diseases Research Institute, Nepean.
Summary
This study inoculated mice with sheep scrapie brain tissue, confirming scrapie infectivity and observing disease progression. The findings highlight similarities between animal and human spongiform encephalopathies.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Neurology
- Infectious Diseases
- Pathology
Background:
- Scrapie is a fatal, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting sheep.
- Diagnosis and infectivity studies are crucial for understanding disease transmission.
Purpose of the Study:
- To confirm the clinical and histological diagnosis of scrapie in sheep.
- To determine the infectivity titer of the scrapie agent in sheep brain tissue.
- To investigate the neuropathological effects of scrapie in a mouse model.
Main Methods:
- Intracerebral inoculation of 123 white Swiss mice with varying dilutions of naturally infected Suffolk sheep brain.
- Monitoring mice for clinical signs of scrapie, including neurological deficits and physical deterioration.
- Histopathological examination of mouse brains for spongiform lesions and neuronal vacuolar degeneration.
Main Results:
- An 83% infection rate was observed in mice inoculated with dilutions up to 10(-4).
- Clinical signs in mice included weakness, emaciation, posterior ataxia, and alopecia.
- 54.5% of infected mice exhibited spongiform lesions and neuronal vacuolar degeneration.
Conclusions:
- The study successfully confirmed scrapie infectivity in sheep brain tissue using a mouse model.
- The observed neuropathological changes in mice resemble those seen in other spongiform encephalopathies.
- Findings contribute to understanding scrapie pathogenesis and its relationship to human and animal prion diseases.