Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Infectivity of Growth Hormone Derived from Human Pituitary Glands

Abstract
As part of a comprehensive evaluation of the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in recipients of native human growth hormone (GH), we inoculated nonhuman primates with samples of all 76 lots of GH retained on file at the National Hormone and Pituitary Program distribution center in September 19851. A total of 1 ml from each lot was inoculated by intracerebral, intravenous, and intramuscular routes into three squirrel monkeys, and 25 of the same lots were pooled in different combinations and inoculated into chimpanzees. The protocol called for these animals to be observed for a minimum of five years.