SCRAPIE-ASSOCIATED FIBRIL DETECTION ON DECOMPOSED AND FIXED OVINE BRAIN MATERIAL

Samples of cerebral cortex from eight scrapie affected sheep and two u naffected control sheep were stored for up to nine days at temperature s ranging from 18-degrees-C to 29-degrees-C. Scrapie associated fibril s (SAF) could be detected in proteinase K treated brain extracts from all the eight scrapie affected animals after five days storage and in six out of the eight after nine days storage. SAF could not be detecte d in any brain extracts from the two control animals. Formol saline fi xed brain material from a further six scrapie affected and two clinica lly normal sheep, were also subjected to an extraction technique used to detect fibrils. No characteristic SAF were observed in any of these fixed samples. Long filamentous structures were observed in four of t he fixed scrapie affected brain extracts and in one of the fixed unaff ected control brain extracts.