Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease News and Research

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Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD (sometimes incorrectly referred to as mad cow disease) is a degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that is incurable and invariably fatal. It is the most common among the types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy found in humans.

Two UCSF scientists selected for Potamkin Prize for their achievements in research on dementias

Two UCSF scientists have been selected for the American Academy of Neurology's prestigious Potamkin Prize, for their "outstanding achievements" in research on dementias.

19 Feb 2010

Health Canada approves Talecris Biotherapeutics' PROLASTIN-C for AAT deficiency

Talecris Biotherapeutics announced today that it has received approval from Health Canada for PROLASTIN®-C (Alpha1-Proteinase Inhibitor [Human]), a more purified and concentrated version of PROLASTIN® produced using advances in manufacturing technology. A similar approval for PROLASTIN-C was granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on October 17, 2009.

17 Feb 2010

Pall launches Leukotrap Affinity Plus Prion and Leukocyte Reduction Filter System

Pall Corporation, a global leader in filtration, separation and purification, today announced the launch of the Leukotrap® Affinity Plus Prion and Leukocyte Reduction Filter System. The new blood filter reduces prions and leukocytes in a single step.

From Pall Corporation 3 Feb 2010

Normal protein can be converted into prion that causes fatal brain diseases in humans

Scientists have determined how a normal protein can be converted into a prion, an infectious agent that causes fatal brain diseases in humans and mammals.

29 Jan 2010

Research may point to more effective therapeutic targets for prion diseases

Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have determined for the first time that prions, bits of infectious protein devoid of DNA or RNA that can cause fatal neurodegenerative disease, are capable of Darwinian evolution.

4 Jan 2010

Scientists anticipate new approaches in drug development to combat prion infection

The regulating protein Srebp2 drives cholesterol formation, which prions need for their propagation, in prion-infected neuronal cells. With these findings, published in the current issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München anticipate new approaches in drug development to combat prion infection.

20 Nov 2009

University of Leeds scientists' discovery could lead to new treatment route for BSE and CJD

A new treatment route for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and its human form Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) could be a step closer thanks to a discovery by scientists at the University of Leeds.

20 Nov 2009

Amorfix Life Sciences reports operating results for the three months ended September 30, 2009

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on misfolded protein diseases, today reported its second quarter operating results and provided an update on the Company's diagnostic and therapeutic programs.

13 Nov 2009

Amorfix Life Sciences achieves 100% specificity in using EP-vCJD Blood Screening Assay

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for misfolded protein diseases, today announced it has achieved 100% specificity (no reproducible false positive results) upon testing 19,000 blood donations for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ("vCJD") with the EP-vCJD(TM) Blood Screening Assay at l'Etablissement Français du Sang de Pyrénées Méditerrannée ("EFS-PM") in Montpellier, France.

29 Oct 2009

Amorfix Life Sciences signs sale and distribution agreement with Cedarlane Laboratories

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for misfolded protein diseases, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Cedarlane Laboratories for the sale and distribution of Amorfix's proprietary antibodies and reagents.

22 Oct 2009

Specific immune system cells linked to susceptibility of younger people to variant CJD

Specific cells within the immune system could help explain why younger people are more susceptible to variant CJD, scientists believe.

15 Oct 2009

Study reveals large structural differences between natural prions and man-made synthetic analogs

A collaboration between scientists at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, San Francisco has led to the first direct information about the molecular structure of prions. In addition, the study has revealed surprisingly large structural differences between natural prions and the closest synthetic analogs that scientists have created in the lab.

7 Oct 2009

Study reveals information about molecular structure of prions

6 Oct 2009

Researchers uncover evolutionary ancestry of prion gene

A University of Toronto-led team has uncovered the evolutionary ancestry of the prion gene, which may reveal new understandings of how the prion protein causes diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as "mad cow disease."

30 Sep 2009

Amorfix Life Sciences to present Amorfix's EP-vCJD blood screening test for vCJD at WFH Global Forum

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for brain wasting diseases, announced today that its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. George Adams, will present Amorfix's EP-vCJD(TM) blood screening test for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ("vCJD") at the Sixth World Federation of Hemophilia ("WFH") Global Forum on the Safety and Supply of Treatment Products for Bleeding Disorders in Montreal, Quebec at 11:00 am ET on Friday, September 25, 2009.

24 Sep 2009

Amorfix announces 100% specificity upon testing 10,000 blood donations for vCJD

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for brain wasting diseases, today announced it has achieved 100% specificity (no reproducible false positive results) upon testing 10,000 blood donations for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease ("vCJD"). with the EP-vCJD(TM) Blood Screening Assay at l'Etablissement Français du Sang de Pyrénées Méditerrannée ("EFS-PM") in Montpellier, France.

22 Sep 2009

Mutations associated with prion diseases are sufficient to cause transmissible neurodegenerative disease

For the first time, Whitehead Institute researchers have shown definitively that mutations associated with prion diseases are sufficient to cause a transmissible neurodegenerative disease.

26 Aug 2009

Nervous system integrity could play a central role in preventing prion diseases

A new study shows that nervous system integrity and axonal properties may play a key role in prion diseases. The findings, from researchers at the Rudolf Virchow Center and the Institute of Virology of the University of W-rzburg, expand our understanding of the development of prion disease and suggest novel targets for therapeutic and diagnostic approaches in its early stages.

24 Aug 2009

Farmed fish and mad cow disease – researchers air new concerns

University of Louisville neurologist Robert P. Friedland, M.D., questions the safety of eating farmed fish in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, adding a new worry to concerns about the nation's food supply.

16 Jun 2009

Prevalence of vCJD agent in Britain remains uncertain

First results from a large tissue survey in Britain of the agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) are unable so far to establish that the prevalence is lower than that given by previous estimates, concludes a study published on bmj.com.

22 May 2009