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Home › Topics › Infectious Diseases › Infections A-Z › Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) › Abnormal prion protein prevalence studies ›Immunohistochemical examination of tonsil specimens
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Immunohistochemical examination of tonsil specimens

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the UCL Institute of Neurology have conducted a sensitive examination of tonsil specimens to detect the presence of the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) related prion protein, and found results that are consistent with earlier estimates of vCJD prion prevalence in Britain. This study involved using immunohistochemistry to examine 9,160 anonymised tonsils for the presence of abnormal prions and found one sample showing evidence of prions associated with vCJD1.

The anonymised tonsils used in this study were obtained from the National Anonymous Tonsil Archive - they had been removed from patients for clinical reasons and would otherwise have been discarded. Tonsils are one of a number of body tissues known to harbour abnormal prions in people who carry vCJD - other tissues where these prions can be found include the appendix.

1. de Marco MF, Linehan J, Gill ON, Clewley JP, Brander S. Large Scale immunohistochemical examination for lymphoreticular prion protein in tonsil specimens collected in Britain.J Pathol2010; 222: 380-7.