Summary
Although scrapie has been known for a long time as a natural disease of sheep and goats, the pathogenesis in its natural host still remains unclear. To study the pathogenesis of natural scrapie, we used immunohistochemistry to monitor the deposition of PrPSc in various tissues, collected during a natural scrapie infection from sheep with the PrPVRQ/PrPVRQ genotype which were purposely bred for their short incubation period for natural scrapie. PrPSc was present in the lymphoid tissues of all animals from the age of 5 months onwards. At this age, PrPSc was detected in the neural tissues only in the enteric nervous system (ENS) at the level of the duodenum and ileum. At the age of 10 months, PrPSc was not only found in the ENS but also in the ganglion mesentericum cranialis/coeliacum, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, and the in-termediolateral column of the thoracic segments T8–T10. PrPSc was detected for the first time in the nucleus tractus solitarius and ganglion nodosus at 17 months of age and in the ganglion trigeminale and several spinal ganglia at 21 months of age. Since the scrapie agent consists largely, if not entirely of PrPSc, these results indicate that the ENS acts as a portal of entry to the neural tissues for the scrapie agent followed by centripetal and retrograde spread through sympathetic and parasympathetic efferent fibers of the autonomic nervous system to the spinal cord and medulla oblongata respectively. PrPSc accumulation in sensory ganglia occurs after infection of the CNS and is therefore probably due to centrifugal and anterograde spread of the scrapie agent from the CNS through afferent nerve fibers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Balaban CD, Beryozkin G (1994) Vestibular nucleus projections to nucleus tractus solitarius and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus nerve: potential substrates for vestibulo-autonomic interactions. Exp Brain Res 98: 200–212
Baldauf E, Beekes M, Diringer H (1997) Evidence for an alternative direct route of access for the scrapie agent to the brain bypassing the spinal cord. J Gen Virol 78: 1187–1197
Beekes M, Baldauf E, Diringer H (1996) Sequential appearance and accumulation of pathognomonic markers in the central nervous system of hamsters orally infected with scrapie. J Gen Virol 77: 1925–1934
Beekes M, McBride PA, Baldauf E (1998) Cerebral targeting indicates vagal spread of infection in hamsters fed with scrapie. J Gen Virol 79: 601–607
Belt PBGM, Muileman IH, Schreuder BEC, Bos-de Ruijter J, Gielkens ALJ, Smits MA (1995) Identification of five allelic variants of the sheep PrP gene and their association with natural scrapie. J Gen Virol 76: 509–517
Bossers A, Schreuder BEC, Muileman IH, Belt PBGM, Smits MA (1996) PrP genotype contributes to determining survival times of sheep with natural scrapie. J Gen Virol 77: 2669–2673
Farquhar CF, Somerville RA, Dornan J, Armstrong D, Birkett CR, Hope J (1993) A review of the detection of PrPSc. In: Transmissible Spongiform Enceph-alopathies. A consultation on BSE with the Scientific Veterinary Committee of the Commission of the European Communities held in Brussels, 14–15 September 1993, Brussels, pp 301–313
Farquhar CF, Somerville RA, Ritchie LA (1989) Post-mortem immunodiagnosis of scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. J Virol Methods 24: 215–222
Foster JD, Wilson MI, Hunter N (1996) Immunolocalisation of the prion protein (PrP) in the brains of sheep with scrapie. Vet Rec 139: 512–515
Hadlow WJ (1990) To a better understanding of scrapie. In: Bradley R, Savey M, Marchant B (eds) Current topics in veterinary medicine and animal science, vol. 55: Sub- Acute Spongiform Encephalopathies, proceedings of a seminar in the CEC Agricultural Research programme held in Brussels, 12–14 November 1990. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 117–130
Hadlow WJ, Kennedy RC, Race RE (1982) Natural infection of Suffolk sheep with scrapie virus. J Infect Dis 146: 657–664
Hunter N, Goldmann W, Benson G, Foster JD, Hope J (1993) Swaledale sheep affected by natural scrapie differ significantly in PrP genotype frequencies from healthy sheep and those selected for reduced incidence of scrapie. J Gen Virol 74: 1025–1031
Hunter N, Goldmann W, Smith G, Hope J (1994) The association of a codon 136 PrP gene variant with the occurrence of natural scrapie. Arch Virol 137: 171–177
Ikeda T, Horiuchi M, Ishiguro N, Muramatsu Y, Kai Uwe GD, Shinagawa M (1995) Amino acid polymorphisms of PrP with reference to onset of scrapie in Suffolk and Corriedale sheep in Japan. J Gen Virol 76: 2577–2581
Ikegami Y, Ito M, Isomura H, Momotani E, Sasaki K, Muramatsu Y, Ishiguro N, Shinagawa M (1991) Pre-clinical and clinical diagnosis of scrapie by detection of PrP protein in tissues of sheep. Vet Rec 128: 271–275
Katz JB, Pedersen JC, Jenny AL, Taylor WD (1992) Assessment of western immunoblotting for the confirmatory diagnosis of ovine scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). J Vet Diagn Invest 4: 447–449
Kimberlin RH, Walker CA (1989) Pathogenesis of scrapie in mice after intragastric infection. Virus Res 12: 213–220
Laplanche JL, Chatelain J, Westaway D, Thomas S, Dussaucy M, Brugere-Picoux J, Launay JM (1993) PrP polymorphisms associated with natural scrapie discovered by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Genomics 15: 30–37
McBride PA, Beekes M (1999) Pathological PrP is abundant in sympathetic and sensory ganglia of hamsters fed with scrapie. Neurosci Lett 265: 135–138
Miller JM, Jenny AL, Taylor WD, Marsh RF, Rubenstein R, Race RE, Detwiler LA (1993) Immunohistochemical detection of prion protein in sheep with scrapie. J Vet Diagn Invest 5: 309–316
Miller JM, Jenny AL, Taylor WD, Race RE, Ernst DR, Katz JB, Rubenstein R (1994) Detection of prion protein in formalin-fixed brain by hydrated autoclaving immunohistochemistry for the diagnosis of scrapie in sheep. J Vet Diagn Invest 6: 366–368
Mohri S, Farquhar CF, Somerville RA, Jeffrey M, Foster JD, Hope J (1992) Immunodetection of a disease specific PrP fraction in scrapie- affected sheep and BSE-affected cattle. Vet Rec 131: 537–539
Muramatsu Y, Onodera A, Horiuchi M (1994) Detection of PrPSc in sheep at the preclinical stage of scrapie and its significance for the diagnosis of insidious infection. Arch Virol 134: 427–432
Porter JD, Balaban CD (1997) Connections between the vestibular nuclei and brain stem regions that mediate autonomic function in the rat. J Vestib Res 7: 63–76
Race RE, Ernst DR, Jenny AL, Taylor WD, Sutton D, Caughey B (1992) Diagnostic implications of detection of proteinase K-resistant protein in spleen, lymph nodes, and brain of sheep. Am J Vet Res 53: 883–889
Schreuder BEC, van Keulen LJM, Vromans MEW, Langeveld JPM, Smits MA (1996) Preclinical test fqr prion diseases [letter]. Nature 381: 563
Schreuder BEC, van Keulen LJM, Vromans MEW, langeveld JPM, Smits MA (1998) Toiisillar bippsy and PrPSc detection in the preclinical diagnosis of scrapie. Vet Rec 142: 564–568
Somerville RA, Birkett CR, Farquhar CF, Hunter N, Goldmann W, Dornan J, Grover D, Hennion RM, Percy C, Foster JD, Jeffrey M (1997) Immunodetection of PrPSc in spleens of some scrapie-infected sheep but not BSE-infected cows. J Gen Virol 78: 2389–2396
van Keulen LJM, Schreuder BEC, Meloen RH, Mooij-Harkes G, Poelen-van den Berg M, Vromans MEW, Langeveld JPM (1995) Immúnohistochemical detection and localization of prion protein in brain tissue of sheep with natural scrapie. Vet Pathol 32: 299–308
van Keulen LJM, Schreuder BEC, Meloen RH, Mooij-Harkes G, Vromans MEW, Langeveld JPM (1996) Immúnohistochemical detection of prion protein in lymphoid tissues of sheep with natural scrapie. J Clin Microbiol 34: 1228–1231
van Keulen LJM, Schreuder BEC, Vromans MEW, Langeveld JPM, Smits MA (1999) Scrapie-associated prion protein in the gastro-intestinal tract of sheep with natural scrapie. J Comp Pathol 121: 55–63
Wild JM, Johnston BM, Gluckman PD (1991) Central projections of the nodose ganglion and the origin of vagal efferents in the lamb. J Anat 175: 105–129
Yates BJ, Grelot L, Kerman IA, Balaban CD, Jakus J, Miller AD (1994) Organization of vestibular inputs to nucleus tractus solitarius and adjacent structures in cat brain stem. Am J Physiol 267: 974–983
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer-Verlag Wien
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van Keulen, L.J.M., Schreuder, B.E.C., Vromans, M.E.W., Langeveld, J.P.M., Smits, M.A. (2000). Pathogenesis of natural scrapie in sheep. In: Groschup, M.H., Kretzschmar, H.A. (eds) Prion Diseases. Archives of Virology. Supplementa, vol 16. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6308-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6308-5_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna
Print ISBN: 978-3-211-83529-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-6308-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive