Dynamics of CWD Prion Detection in Feces and Blood From Naturally Infected White-Tailed Deer

Authors

Francisca Bravo-Risi
Paulina Soto
Rebeca Benavente
Tracy A Nichols
Rodrigo Morales

Publication Date

11-17-2023

Journal

Scientific Reports

Abstract

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervids. Confirmatory testing of CWD is currently performed postmortem in obex and lymphoid tissues. Extensive evidence demonstrates the presence of infectious prions in feces of CWD-infected deer using in vitro prion-amplification techniques and bioassays. In experimental conditions, this has been achieved as soon as 6-month post-inoculation, suggesting this sample type is a candidate for antemortem diagnosis. In the present study, we optimized the detection of CWD-prions in fecal samples from naturally infected, pre-clinical white-tailed deer by comparing protocols aiming to concentrate CWD-prions with direct spiking of the sample into the PMCA reactions. Results of this screening were compared with similar analyses made in blood. Our data shows that CWD-prion detection in feces using PMCA is best in the absence of sample pre-treatments. We performed a screening of 169 fecal samples, detecting CWD-prions with diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 54.81% and 98.46%, respectively. In addition, the PMCA seeding activity of 76 fecal samples was compared with that on blood of matched deer. Our findings, demonstrate that CWD-prions in feces and blood are increased at late pre-clinical stages, exhibiting similar detection in both sample types (> 90% sensitivity) when PrP96GG animals are tested. Our findings contribute to understand prion distribution across different biological samples and polymorphic variants in white-tailed deer. This information is also relevant for the current efforts to identify platforms to diagnose CWD.

Keywords

Animals, Prions, Deer, Wasting Disease, Chronic, Feces

DOI

10.1038/s41598-023-46929-9

PMID

37978207

PMCID

PMC10656452

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

November 2023

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes