Loading...
A firm diagnosis of a prion disease can now only be made using brain tissue at autopsy, as tests of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during life for surrogate markers such as 14-3-3 and total tau (t-tau) proteins are not sufficiently specific. Investigators sought to determine the ability of a second-generation CSF test, real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC; in which the assay plates are shaken to hasten misfolding of the prion proteins when exposed to pathologic prion proteins), to distinguish prion diseases such as sporadic or genetic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS), and fatal insomnia from other rapidly progressive neurodegenerative diseases with similar presentations. Analyses were perform…