Wide distribution of prion infectivity in the peripheral tissues of vCJD and sCJD patients

Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the commonest human prion disease, occurring most likely as the consequence of spontaneous formation of abnormal prion protein in the central nervous system (CNS). Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD) is an acquired prion disease that was first identified in 1996. In marked contrast to vCJD, previous investigations in sCJD revealed either inconsistent levels or an absence of PrP(Sc) in peripheral tissues. These findings contributed to the consensus that risks of transmitting sCJD as a consequence of non-CNS invasive clinical procedures were low. In this study, we systematically measured prion infectivity levels in CNS and peripheral tissues collected from vCJD and sCJD patients. Unexpectedly, prion infectivity was detected in a wide variety of peripheral tissues in sCJD cases. Although the sCJD infectivity levels varied unpredictably in the tissues sampled and between patients, these findings could impact on our perception of the possible transmission risks associated with sCJD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00401-021-02270-x.