Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 and interleukin-10 in serum from naïve and scrapie infected sheep

Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) were identified as potential biomarkers for ovine scrapie in a mouse model. The development of novel diagnostic methods to identify pre-clinical scrapie-infected animals is needed. In this study, ELISA was used to assess TIMP-1 and IL-10 levels in 158 serum samples from naïve and preclinical scrapie-infected sheep. Young (≤ 18 months) naïve sheep had significantly lower TIMP-1 levels compared with old (≥ 20 months) naïve and old infected sheep (P<0.04). Young naïve sheep had lower IL-10 than old naïve sheep (P<0.001). Both cytokines tended to have lower levels in young naïve sheep compared to infected sheep but this did not reach significance. A larger sample size will be helpful in determining the potential of these cytokines as a diagnostic tool.