A Critical Review of Atypical Cerebellum-Type Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: Its Relationship to “New Variant” CJD and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Author:

Narang Harash K.1

Affiliation:

1. Ken Bell International, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2 3DH, United Kingdom

Abstract

Shortly after the appearance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was identified in young patients with nonclassical presentation such as difficulty in balancing and ataxia. The classical CJD in older patients starts with dementia. To distinguish between the two types, CJD in young persons has been termed “new variant” (nvCJD). The distinguishing features of classical CJD include initial presentation with dementia, confluent spongiform changes are very unusual in the cerebellum, and PrP plaques are rarely observed. For nvCJD, initially, difficulty with balancing and ataxia occurs, confluent spongiform changes are seen in the cerebellum, and a large number of PrP plaques are seen. The Icelandic observation of sheep scrapie revealed a predominantly ataxic form of scrapie, termed Type II, rather than the itchy form termed Type I. Both types have been known to exist in Europe. Since the clinical signs of Type II scrapie in sheep with trembling and ataxia are similar to those seen in BSE and nvCJD, this suggests that Type II is the cause of BSE and nvCJD. Over 8 years, from 1989 to 1996, I examined the clinical histories of 33 CJD cases aged between the ages of 18 and 84. Six under the age of 40 and 15 over the age of 40 had leading clinical features such as difficulty in balancing and ataxia similar to those seen in the young cases classified as “nvCJD.” Brains were examined from the six of 15 cases over the age of 40, which revealed similar pathology to that seen in young patients classified as “nvCJD.” These findings suggest that all age groups are susceptible to the strain of the agent derived from BSE cattle.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Cited by 11 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3