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Altered Scrapie Infectivity Estimates by Titration and Incubation Period in the Presence of Detergents

Robert A. Somerville

New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, 1050 Forest Hill Road, Staten Island, New York 10314, U.S.A.

During experiments on the purification of scrapie infectivity, changes were found in the dynamics of scrapie titration. After exposure to detergent, infectivity estimates by both endpoint titration and incubation period were altered. The addition of detergent to the diluent used in titration resulted in at least a 100-fold increase in the infectivity estimate. This suggests that the amount of scrapie in a sample, as measured by serial dilution and titration, may be underestimated to different extents, depending on the biochemical milieu of the inoculum. Membrane fractions treated with detergents before dilution exhibited longer incubation periods than untreated fractions for the same number of infectious units of scrapie. This demonstrates that detergent treatments and possibly other biochemical manipulations can cause changes in the response of the host to the inoculum that are not detectable if incubation periods alone are used to estimate scrapie ‘titre’.

Keywords: scrapie infectivity, incubation period, effect of detergents

Present address: ARC and MRC Neuropathogenesis Unit, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JF, U.K.

Received 2 March 1983; accepted 25 May 1983.

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