Investigating Prion Diseases Essay -- BSE Prion Mad Cow Disease

Investigation of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (sCJD), New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nvCJD), and the Controversy of the Etiological Agents Responsible for these Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) The connection between bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known conventionally as mad cow disease, and new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD) has brought BSE to the public eye. The disease in cattle seems to have crossed the species barrier and develop into a fatal disease in humans, both belonging to the group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Now a single cow infected with BSE raises public anxiety because of the belief that humans who ate infected meat will sicken and die because of nvCJD. But how concrete is this connection between BSE and nvCJD? Though experimental data supports the connection, many questions have still not been answered. Recently, new studies have been done to find an alternative etiological agent to these diseases grouped as TSEs, and three UK scientists have linked BSE, sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), and possibly nvCJD with multiple sclerosis (MS) in a surprising new claim that all three diseases ar e actually autoimmune diseases. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) came into contact with the human world as early as 1732 through an Englishman's description of scrapie, a TSE that occurs in sheep and goats; there may have been even earlier cases in the 1690's if the disease dubbed â€Å"la Tremblante† in France referred to scrapie. (Ebringer et al., 2005) TSEs are â€Å"distinct from any other amyloid-based diseases in that they alone are transmissible.† (Brown, 2004, p. 335) This d... ...m encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: facts and uncertainties underlying the causal link between animal and human diseases. Neurol Sci (25), pages 122-129. Retrieved July 25, 2005 Brown, P. (2004). Mad-cow disease in cattle and human beings: bovine spongiform encephalopathy provides a case study in how to manage risks while still learning the facts. American Scientist v29 i4, pages 334-342. Retrieved July 25, 2005 Ebringer, A., Rashid, T., Wilson, C. (2005). Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Multiple Sclerosis, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Are Probably Autoimmune Diseases Evoked by Acinetobacter Bacteria. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, pages 417-428. Retrieved July 25, 2005. doi:10.1196/annals.1313.093 Ï€Everbroeck, B., Boons, J., Cras, P. (2004). Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Bunge Foundation. Retrieved July 25, 2005