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Volume 18, Number 12—December 2012
Letter

Prion in Saliva of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy–Infected Cattle

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To the Editor: A definitive diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle usually relies on Western blot and immunohistochemical testing of samples from the obex region of the brainstem. These conventional diagnostic tests can detect the presence of the abnormal (disease-associated) form of the prion protein (PrPSc) in brain samples several months before the onset of clinical signs; however, there is no appropriate, universal tool for early preclinical and antemortem diagnosis of BSE. Furthermore, confirmation of the disease is currently only possible by postmortem examination of brain tissues. In this study, we used the serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) technique to determine the presence of PrPSc in saliva samples collected from BSE-infected cows before and after the onset of disease (1).

In a previous study (2), we analyzed the tissue distribution of PrPSc in cattle up to 66 months after they were orally inoculated with a relatively low dose (5 g) of homogenized brainstem from animals with naturally occurring BSE in England. In 2011, after publication of that study and 83.3 months after the cows were inoculated, clinical signs of BSE developed in 1 cow (no. 5444); necropsy was performed 84.7 months after inoculation. In addition, we used saliva samples from 2 BSE-affected cows (nos. 5413 and 5437) (2) to determine the presence of PrPSc.

We collected saliva samples from animals at 4 monthly intervals, beginning in 2009, 56 months after inoculation. Samples were stored at −80°C until analysis. Using the sodium phosphotungstic acid precipitation method, we concentrated (100-fold) individual 1-mL saliva samples from each time point. We then diluted the concentrated samples 1:10 with the normal isoform of prion protein substrate containing 0.5% potassium dextran sulfate. Using the sPMCA technique as described (1), we amplified the samples in 3–8 tubes, and we used Western blot to analyze the proteinase K–treated sPMCA products (2).

Using Western blot and immunohistochemical tests, we detected the accumulation of PrPSc in brains collected at necropsy from the 3 cows examined. In addition, using the sPMCA technique, we detected PrPSc signal in 1) saliva samples that were concentrated from samples collected from the same 3 cows at necropsy and in 2) concentrated saliva samples that were collected from 2 of the cows (nos. 5413 and 5444) at the early clinical stages of disease.

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Thumbnail of Western blot detection, using the serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification technique, of the abnormal (disease-associated) form of the prion protein (PrPSc) in concentrated saliva samples from 3 cows experimentally infected by inoculation with the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy: cows 5413 (A), 5444 (B), and 5437 (C). PrPSc was detected in saliva samples at the initial clinical and terminal stages of the disease (A, B). PrPSc was also detected in a saliva sample, aft

Figure. . Western blot detection, using the serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification technique, of the abnormal (disease-associated) form of the prion protein (PrPSc) in concentrated saliva samples from 3 cows experimentally infected...

After saliva samples underwent 3 rounds of amplification, we detected PrPSc in a saliva sample that was collected from cow number 5437 two months before the clinical onset of clinical symptoms (Figure). For 2 of the cows (nos. 5413 and 5437), the positive ratio of salivary PrPSc at round 4 of amplification increased as the disease progressed (Figure). Because PrPSc signal could be detected in BSE-infected brain homogenates diluted up to 10−10 after 2 rounds of amplification (1), we estimated PrPSc levels in the nonconcentrated original saliva samples to be lower than those in BSE-infected brain homogenate diluted to 10−12. No PrPSc signal was detected in samples collected from the 3 cows 3–5 months before the onset of clinical symptoms or from age-matched noninfected controls, even after 4 rounds of amplification.

We demonstrated the presence of PrPSc in saliva of BSE-affected cows during the clinical stage of the disease, and in 1 case, at the preclinical or asymptomatic stage. Our findings suggest that PrPSc is likely to be detected in the saliva of BSE-affected cattle during the clinical stage of disease, after accumulation of PrPSc in the brain. PrPSc was found in the salivary glands of BSE-affected cattle at the terminal stage of infection (1). Therefore, once the infectious agent reaches the central nervous system, it may spread centrifugally from the brain to the salivary glands through the autonomic nervous system.

Infectivity of saliva and the presence of PrPSc in saliva have been reported in other ruminants affected with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Infectivity of saliva was demonstrated in deer with chronic wasting disease (3) and in scrapie-affected sheep (4); the immunolabeled PrPSc accumulated in the salivary glands of scrapie-affected sheep (5). A low level of PrPSc was detected in concentrated buccal swab samples of preclinical scrapie-infected sheep by using sPMCA (6,7). These results suggest that small amounts of PrPSc may accumulate in the salivary glands and are then secreted into saliva.

The presence of infectious prions in saliva may explain the facile horizontal transmission of scrapie in sheep (46) and chronic wasting disease in deer (4,8). There has been no epidemiologic evidence, however, that saliva, milk, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid from BSE-infected cattle are infectious (9). Nonetheless, the potential risk for BSE transmission by body fluids or excretions from BSE-infected cattle is cannot be ruled out by the current data.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by a grant-in-aid from the BSE and Other Prion Disease Project of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan.

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Hiroyuki Okada, Yuichi MurayamaComments to Author , Noriko Shimozaki, Miyako Yoshioka, Kentaro Masujin, Morikazu Imamura, Yoshifumi Iwamaru, Yuichi Matsuura, Kohtaro Miyazawa, Shigeo Fukuda, Takashi Yokoyama, and Shirou Mohri
Author affiliations: Author affiliations: National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Tsukuba, Japan (H. Okada, Y. Murayama, N. Shimozaki, M. Yoshioka, K. Masujin, M. Imamura, Y. Iwamaru, Y. Matsuura, K. Miyazawa, T. Yokoyama, S. Mohri); Hokkaido Research Organization, Shintoku, Japan (S. Fukuda)

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References

  1. Murayama  Y, Yoshioka  M, Masujin  K, Okada  H, Iwamaru  Y, Imamura  M, Sulfated dextrans enhance in vitro amplification of bovine spongiform encephalopathy PrPSc and enable ultrasensitive detection of bovine PrPSc. PLoS ONE. 2010;5:e13152. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  2. Okada  H, Iwamaru  Y, Imamura  M, Masujin  K, Matsuura  Y, Murayama  Y, Detection of disease-associated prion protein in the posterior portion of the small intestine involving the continuous Peyer’s patch in cattle orally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2011;58:33343. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  3. Haley  NJ, Seelig  DM, Zabel  MD, Telling  GC, Hoover  EA. Detection of CWD prions in urine and saliva of deer by transgenic mouse bioassay. PLoS ONE. 2009;4:e4848. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
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  5. Vascellari  M, Nonno  R, Mutinelli  F, Bigolaro  M, Di Bari  MA, Melchiotti  E, PrPSc in salivary glands of scrapie-affected sheep. J Virol. 2007;81:48726. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  6. Maddison  BC, Rees  HC, Baker  CA, Taema  M, Bellworthy  SJ, Thorne  L, Prions are secreted into the oral cavity in sheep with preclinical scrapie. J Infect Dis. 2010;201:16726. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  7. Gough  KC, Baker  CA, Rees  HC, Terry  LA, Spiropoulos  J, Thorne  L, The oral secretion of infectious scrapie prions occurs in preclinical sheep with a range of PRNP genotypes. J Virol. 2012;86:56671. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  8. Mathiason  CK, Powers  JG, Dahmes  SJ, Osborn  DA, Miller  KV, Warren  RJ, Infectious prions in the saliva and blood of deer with chronic wasting disease. Science. 2006;314:1336. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
  9. Brown  P, Andréoletti  O, Bradley  R, Budka  H, Deslys  JP, Groschup  M, WHO tables on tissue infectivity distribution in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010 [cited 2011 Nov 2]. http://www.who.int/bloodproducts/tablestissueinfectivity.pdf

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Cite This Article

DOI: 10.3201/eid1812.120528

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Table of Contents – Volume 18, Number 12—December 2012

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Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Yuichi Murayama, Prion Disease Research Center, National Institute of Animal Health, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, 3-1-5 Kan-nondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0856, Japan

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Page created: November 21, 2012
Page updated: November 21, 2012
Page reviewed: November 21, 2012
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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