Serological Evidence for an Inflammatory Response in Murine Scrapie

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Abstract
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are initiated by a novel kind of agent that produces characteristic degenerative changes in the brain without a detectable systemic inflammatory response or serological changes. A murine scrapie model was evaluated for changes in plasma concentration of serum amyloid P component (SAP), a protein that is up-regulated in infected and/or injured mice during the acute phase response (APR). C57BL10 and IRW mice inoculated with scrapie brain developed clinical scrapie 125–150 days later. At this time, concentration of plasma SAP increased in most of them. The SAP level increased ⩾ 3-fold in >80% of the scrapie-affected C57BL10 mice and IRW male mice. A similar increase was found in <3% of respective nonscrapie control mice. The up-regulation of mouse SAP during clinical scrapie provides evidence for the activation of a systemic APR in TSE, a serological change that may be clinically useful.

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