Paspaltsis Ioannis, Kotta Konstantia, Lagoudaki Roza, Grigoriadis Nikolaos, Poulios Ioannis, Sklaviadis Theodoros
Prion Disease Research Group, Laboratory of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
B' Neurological Clinic, AHEPA University Hospital, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
J Gen Virol. 2006 Oct;87(Pt 10):3125-3130. doi: 10.1099/vir.0.81746-0.
Prions are postulated to be the infectious agents of a family of transmissible, fatal, neurodegenerative disorders affecting both humans and animals. The possibility of prion transmission constitutes a public-health risk that confronts regulatory authorities everywhere. The main problem in handling prions is the fact that they are extremely resistant to standard decontamination methods. Thus, the use of harsh and expensive practices to destroy prions is inevitable. The development of applicable and efficient prion-inactivation practices is still highly important for the prevention of accidental transmission. In the search for effective and environmentally friendly methods to eliminate organic compounds and bacteria, much attention has been focused on the so-called advanced oxidation processes. These are based on the formation of hydroxyl radicals, which are known to possess a high reductive potential. This study tested the potential of titanium dioxide, an inexpensive and completely inert reagent, to inactivate prions in a heterogeneous photocatalytic process. Initial in vitro experiments were followed by a bioassay with the scrapie strain 263K in Syrian hamsters. The results obtained from this study indicate that titanium dioxide photocatalytic treatment of scrapie-infected brain homogenates reduces infectivity titres significantly.
朊病毒被认为是一类可传播的、致命的、影响人类和动物的神经退行性疾病的致病因子。朊病毒传播的可能性构成了一个公共卫生风险，这是世界各地监管机构都面临的问题。处理朊病毒的主要问题在于它们对标准去污方法具有极强的抵抗力。因此，使用严苛且昂贵的方法来销毁朊病毒是不可避免的。开发适用且高效的朊病毒灭活方法对于预防意外传播仍然至关重要。在寻找有效且环保的方法来消除有机化合物和细菌的过程中，人们将大量注意力集中在了所谓的高级氧化过程上。这些过程基于羟基自由基的形成，已知羟基自由基具有高还原电位。本研究测试了二氧化钛（一种廉价且完全惰性的试剂）在非均相光催化过程中使朊病毒失活的潜力。最初的体外实验之后是用叙利亚仓鼠中的羊瘙痒病毒株263K进行生物测定。本研究获得的结果表明，二氧化钛光催化处理羊瘙痒病感染的脑匀浆可显著降低感染滴度。
