Rogue agent in Creutzfeldt-Jakob brain disease now found in muscle tissue

[kayell]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20031106/hl_afp/health_creutzfeldt_031106194648

PARIS (AFP) - A rogue protein implicated in the degenerative brain disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (news - web sites) (CJD) has for the first time been found in muscle tissue, Swiss scientists say.


They found traces of the so-called disease-associated prion protein (PrPSc) in eight out of 32 muscle samples, and in 10 out of 28 spleen samples, that were taken from three dozen patients who had died with the classic form of CJD.


PrPSc has so far only ever been found in tissue of the central nervous system. The Swiss researchers made the discovery by using a new chemical, phosphotungstic acid, which boosted the sensitivity of conventional PrPSc tests threefold.


The discovery throws up intriguing, but as yet unresolved, questions about the molecular pathways taken by CJD to establish itself, the scientists said.

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[Brucey]

1. Interesting.

CJD is related to mad cow disease, but can occur spontaneously in rare cases. Apparently a mishapen protein is the culprit. Very weird thing.

[bemildred]

2. Suggests possible transmisson via muscle tissue.

Have another Big Mac.

[phoebe]

3. thought you might be interested in this..

Mad Cow Disease Halted for First Time
By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Oct 30 (HealthDayNews) -- A British research team has halted a mad cow-like disease in lab animals, pointing the way to new hope for preventing the progression of the disease in humans as well.

"No one else has reported this, not that we are aware," says Dr. Giovanna Mallucci, a member of the research team at the Institute of Neurology in London. The team's report appears in the Oct. 31 issue of Science.

Called mad cow disease in cattle and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans, the neurological disorders studied occur when normal nerve cell proteins, called prions, change for unknown reasons into a disease-causing form.

Both are fatal brain diseases and there is no known cure. In CJD, patients may have failing memory, behavioral changes, coordination problems, and visual disturbances. Mental deterioration hastens as the disease progresses, and 90 percent of those who have it die within a year, according to the National Institutes of Health.

http://target.com/target_group/pharmacy/healthinfo/health_news/health_news_article.jhtml?urn=urn:content:healthscout:htm:30102003:30102003_14

Dr. Mallucci is one of THE eminent doctors studying this disease.

[Demonaut]

4. another outed agent

seriously, This bodes ill for meat eaters..could it be that the infected beef from one infected cow from Canada could now be wreaking slow havoc in our brains. has anyone herd of mad sow disease..the other white meat.

[Maple]

5. Well since that cow

never entered the food supply....no.

[Demonaut]

6. Are you sure,

The head was tested four months after its slaughter.

[Demonaut]

7. found it, you're right

we hope