[Prion diseases in pediatrics]

Arch Pediatr. 1999 Mar;6(3):293-301. doi: 10.1016/S0929-693X(99)80269-3.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Prion diseases are rare neurologic affections with a poor prognosis, occurring in both humans and animals. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) secondary to human extracted growth hormone treatment is the most frequent condition in pediatrics. In 1994, a new type of CJD (variant CJD) was described in young adults in the United Kingdom, only 10 years after the bovine spongiform encephalopathy epidemic, with recent works showing a direct relationship between the bovine epidemic and the human cases. An accumulation of a single protein called the prion protein (PrP) has been discovered in the brain in all of these cases, animal and human, leading to the hypothesis that a new infectious agent could proceed without any nuclear acid information; another hypothesis is that of a still unknown viral agent. The PRNP gene encoding for this PrP protein is well described: some mutations and a polymorphism in the 129th codon have been shown to be implicated in many cases of CJD. PrP is a ubiquitous protein, with yet unknown physiological function. There are still many questions to be answered: shall we expect new pediatric cases of variant CJD? Assuming that animal-human contamination is related to alimentation, are there other ways of contamination.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Child
  • Food Microbiology
  • Humans
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Pediatrics
  • Polymorphism, Genetic / genetics
  • Prion Diseases* / classification
  • Prion Diseases* / etiology
  • Prion Diseases* / transmission
  • Prions / genetics

Substances

  • Prions