Elevated levels of serum SlOO beta protein in scrapie hamsters

Abstract

Recently, immunoluminometric analysis revealed elevated levels of serum SlOO beta protein in sporadic and genetic cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) as compared to demented and non-demented control patients (Otto et al, 1998). SlOO beta protein is a well established marker for the activation of astrocytes and also shows enhanced histochemical presentation in Alzheimer's disease (Sheng et al, 1997). Thus, it will be necessary to precisely assess the specificity of the new test for human transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) in larger study populations.