Prion Disease Transmission via Skin to Skin Contact

Sporadic Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease is the most common prion disease. Unlike many contractible diseases, prion diseases are not produced by another species residing within its host; prion diseases are caused by a natural protein (PrPc) that animals (including humans) possess on their cell membranes. In order for a prion disease to occur, normal cellular PrPc has to be misfolded into the diseased protein form, scrapie protein (PrPsc). The presence of one misfolded PrPsc protein in an animal can cause a prion disease because that one PrPsc has the ability to bind to PrPc and change its configuration within the brain.

There are three mechanisms in which humans acquire a misfolded PrPsc protein. The first of these mechanisms is genetic inheritance and the second is random misfolding within a human’s brain, the latter being what causes Sporadic Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease. However, a prion disease can also be passed from one organism to another, and human to human transmission can spread a prion associated disease. Human to human transmission has been found in hospitals due to contaminated instruments or brain transplant tissue during surgery. However, according to the National institute of health (n.d.), medical procedure transmission is quite rare which causes scientists to question how prions can be transmitted from person to person.

According to new research done on sporadic Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease human transmission might be possible through skin to skin contact (Orrú, 2017). In this particular study scientists used biopsied or autopsied skin from 38 human donors. Of the 38 donors, 23 were diagnosed with Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease and the other 15 acted as controls. Using western blot technique the skin samples were analyzed for the presence of PrPsc.  Orrú and his colleagues found PrPsc in seven tissue samples from donors known to have Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease. Although seven out of 23 seems like a small percentage, this study also found that all 23 donors with the disease had prion activity occurring within their epithelial cells.

This study suggests that human to human transmission via skin contact is not impossible due to dermal prion activity and PrPsc presence. This is a very scary thought because prion diseases are degenerative and fatal diseases without effective treatment. With such a possibility more research should be done to see if skin to skin contact is a significant way in which humans can possess Creutzfeldt- Jakob disease.

References:

National Institute of Health. (n.d.). Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Fact Sheet. Retrieved December 03, 2017, from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Fact-Sheets/Creutzfeldt-Jakob-Disease-Fact-Sheet 

Orrú, C. D., Yuan, J., Appleby, B. S., Li, B., Li, Y., Winner, D., & ... Zou, W. (2017). Prion seeding activity and infectivity in skin samples from patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Science Translational Medicine, 9(417), doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aam7785