RT-QuIC Detection of Chronic Wasting Disease Prions in Third Eyelids from White-tailed Deer

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2025 Mar 16

PMID 40089641

Authors

Jennifer Hoy-Petersen

Kevin Niedringhaus

Davin M Henderson

John P Armstrong

Julia Livengood

Deepanker Tewari

Roderick B Gagne

Michelle Gibison

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cervids which is caused by prions, and new cases continue to appear in populations in North America and globally. The United States Department of Agriculture-approved tests for diagnosing CWD use obex and/or retropharyngeal lymph nodes, which are challenging to collect as the tissues require anatomical knowledge, skill, and time to dissect. Third eyelids contain lymphoid follicles and are easier to collect. We determine whether third eyelids from naturally infected white-tailed deer are a reliable tissue for detecting CWD prions using real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC), if positive results can be confirmed by immunohistochemistry, and if the results are reproducible between laboratories. Testing of third eyelids individually by RT-QuIC had a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 100%, and pooling of 5 third eyelids into one sample yielded a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 100%. Although IHC on third eyelid can be used in conjunction with RT-QuIC to support a positive diagnosis, using IHC on third eyelids in isolation should be performed with caution as additional validation for this tissue type is recommended. Our results support that testing third eyelids is a potentially more efficient way for management agencies to improve and expand their CWD surveillance.

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