Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2012 Feb;78(3):613-20. doi: 10.1128/AEM.06791-11. Epub 2011 Dec 2.
Misfolded prions (PrP(Sc)) are well known for their resistance to conventional decontamination processes. The potential risk of contamination of the water environment, as a result of disposal of specified risk materials (SRM), has raised public concerns. Ozone is commonly utilized in the water industry for inactivation of microbial contaminants and was tested in this study for its ability to inactivate prions (263K hamster scrapie = PrP(Sc)). Treatment variables included initial ozone dose (7.6 to 25.7 mg/liter), contact time (5 s and 5 min), temperature (4°C and 20°C), and pH (pH 4.4, 6.0, and 8.0). Exposure of dilute suspensions of the infected 263K hamster brain homogenates (IBH) (0.01%) to ozone resulted in the in vitro destruction of the templating properties of PrP(Sc), as measured by the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) assay. The highest levels of prion inactivation (≥4 log(10)) were observed with ozone doses of 13.0 mg/liter, at pH 4.4 and 20°C, resulting in a CT (the product of residual ozone concentration and contact time) value as low as 0.59 mg · liter(-1) min. A comparison of ozone CT requirements among various pathogens suggests that prions are more susceptible to ozone degradation than some model bacteria and protozoa and that ozone treatment may be an effective solution for inactivating prions in water and wastewater.
错误折叠的朊病毒（PrP(Sc)）以其对常规消毒过程的抗性而闻名。由于指定风险材料（SRM）的处置，有可能污染水环境，这引起了公众的关注。臭氧在水工业中常用于灭活微生物污染物，本研究测试了其灭活朊病毒（263K 仓鼠瘙痒病 = PrP(Sc)）的能力。处理变量包括初始臭氧剂量（7.6 至 25.7 mg/l）、接触时间（5 秒和 5 分钟）、温度（4°C 和 20°C）和 pH 值（pH 4.4、6.0 和 8.0）。将感染的 263K 仓鼠脑匀浆（IBH）（0.01%）的稀悬液暴露于臭氧中，导致 PMCA 测定法测量的 PrP(Sc)模板性质的体外破坏。在 pH 值为 4.4 和 20°C 时，臭氧剂量为 13.0 mg/l 时观察到朊病毒失活水平最高（≥4 log(10)），导致 CT（剩余臭氧浓度和接触时间的乘积）值低至 0.59 mg·liter(-1) min。与各种病原体的臭氧 CT 要求比较表明，与一些模型细菌和原生动物相比，朊病毒更容易受到臭氧降解的影响，臭氧处理可能是水和废水中灭活朊病毒的有效方法。
