Factors intrinsic and extrinsic to blood hamper the development of a routine blood test for human prion diseases

Abstract

Development of numerous advanced techniques in recent years have allowed detection of the pathological prion protein (PrP(TSE)), the unique marker of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs, or prion diseases), in the blood of animals and humans; however, an ante mortem screening test that can be used for the routine diagnosis of human prion diseases remains unavailable. A critical, analytical review of all the diagnostic assays developed to date will allow an evaluation of progress in this field and may facilitate the identification of the possible reasons for this delay. Thus, in this review, I provide a detailed overview of the techniques currently available for detecting PrP(TSE) and other markers of the disease in blood, as well as an analysis of the significance, feasibility, reliability and application spectrum for these methods. I highlight that factors intrinsic and extrinsic to blood may interfere with the detection of PrP(TSE)/prions, and that this is not yet taken into account in current tests. This may inspire researchers in this field to not only aspire to increase test sensitivity, but also to adopt other strategies in order to identify and overcome the limitations that hamper the development of a successful routine blood test for prion diseases.