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Infectivity of Prion Protein Bound to Stainless Steel Wires: A Model for Testing Decontamination Procedures for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Zheng-xin Yan ,
Lothar Stitz ,
Peter Heeg ,
Eberhard Pfaff  and
Klaus Roth
Zheng-xin Yan
Affiliation:
SMP GmbH Pruefen Validieren Forschen, Tuebingen, Germany
Lothar Stitz
Affiliation:
Institute of Immunology, Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Tuebingen, Germany
Peter Heeg
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Microbiology and Hospital Infection Control, Eberhard-Karls University, Tuebingen, Germany
Eberhard Pfaff
Affiliation:
Institute of Immunology, Federal Research Centre for Virus Diseases of Animals, Tuebingen, Germany
Klaus Roth*
Affiliation:
SMP GmbH Pruefen Validieren Forschen, Tuebingen, Germany
*
SMP GmbH Pruefen Validieren Forschen, Paul-Ehrlich-Strasse 40, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
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Abstract

Objectives:

To establish an animal model to study transmissible spongiform encephalopathy using hamsters and steel wires contaminated with infectious brain materials as transfer vehicles, and, based on this model, to test decontamination procedures against the infectious prion proteins on the steel wires as a near real situation bioassay.

Design:

Infectious brain materials were given to healthy hamsters intracerebrally either as a suspension or as dried materials on the surface of steel wires. The animals were observed for 18 months. During this period, animals showing definitive clinical signs were euthanized. Decontamination studies were performed by reprocessing contaminated steel wires with different disinfection agents and procedures before implantation.

Results:

Pathological prion proteins were able to bind to the steel wires and caused disease after the contaminated wires were implanted in the brains of hamsters. When the contaminated wires were treated with different reprocessing procedures before implantation, infectivity was reduced, which was manifested directly by prolonged survival time of the test animals. These results show that this model can be used as a bioassay to validate reprocessing procedures for surgical instruments.

Conclusions:

At the time of submission of this article, only the group of hamsters incubated with wires reprocessed with an alkaline detergent, followed by sterilization with a modified cycle in a hydrogen peroxide gas plasma sterilizer (4 injections), showed no clinical signs of disease and remained alive. Two animals from the group receiving sodium hydroxide followed by autoclaving (at 134° C for 18 minutes) died. Furthermore, the tested enzymatic cleaning agent seemed to have no positive effect.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 25 , Issue 4 , April 2004 , pp. 280 - 283
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2004

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