Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 59 (2), 100-107, 2006
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Original Article
Distribution of PrPSc in Cattle with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Slaughtered at Abattoirs in Japan
Naoko Iwata, Yuko Sato, Yoshimi Higuchi, Kyoko Nohtomi1, Noriyo Nagata, Hideki Hasegawa, Minoru Tobiume, Yuko Nakamura1, Ken'ichi Hagiwara1, Hidefumi Furuoka2, Motohiro Horiuchi3, Yoshio Yamakawa1 and Tetsutaro Sata*
Department of Pathology and 1Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640; 2Department of Pathobiological Science, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555; and 3Laboratory of Prion Diseases, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0818, Japan
(Received December 19, 2005. Accepted February 15, 2006)
*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Toyama 1-23-1, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan. Fax: +81-3-5285-1189, E-mail: tsata@nih.go.jp
SUMMARY: Three 80- to 95-month-old Holstein dairy cattle infected naturally with the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and slaughtered at abattoirs in Japan were examined for the distribution of disease-specific and protease-resistant prion protein (PrPSc) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western blot (WB) analyses. The cattle showed no clinical signs or symptoms relevant to BSE but were screened as positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, a rapid test for BSE. This positive result was confirmed by IHC or WB in a specimen of the medulla oblongata. Histopathologically, these cattle showed no vacuolation in tissue sections from the central nervous system except for the medulla oblongata. Both IHC and WB analyses revealed PrPSc accumulation in the brain, spinal cord, satellite and ganglionic cells of the dorsal root ganglia, and the myenteric plexus of the distal ileum. In addition, small amounts of PrPSc were detected in the peripheral nerves of 2 cattle by WB. No PrPSc was demonstrated by either method in the Peyer's patches of the distal ileum; lymphoid tissues including the palatine tonsils, lymph nodes, and spleen; or other tissues. The distribution of PrPSc accumulation in the preclinical stage was different between naturally infected cattle and cattle inoculated experimentally with the BSE agent.