Table 1. Characteristics of study animals.
| Animal | Sex | Age (y) | IP (y) | Ileum→rectum (GALT PrPres) | Pancreas PrPres | Adrenal gland PrPres | Spinal cord PrPres | Brain1 PrPres | T2D onset |
| Group A (i.c. BSE infection, 5 mg dose, exposed on a single occasion) – Animals were euthanized after the onset of neurological signs | |||||||||
| A1 | F | 4 | 4.4 | + | n.d. | n.d. | + | + | n.a. |
| A2 | F | 4 | 6.1 | + | n.d. | n.d. | + | + | n.a. |
| A3 | F | 4 | 5.2 | + | n.d. | n.d. | + | + | n.a. |
| A4 | F | 4 | 5.6 | + | n.d. | n.d. | + | + | n.a. |
| A5 | F | 4 | 2.9 | + | n.d. | n.d. | + | + | n.a. |
| A6 | F | 4 | 4.8 | + | n.d. | n.d. | + | + | n.a. |
| Mean, SD | 4.8±1.1 | ||||||||
| Group B (oral BSE infection, 5 g dose, exposed on a single occasion) – Animals were euthanized after the onset of neurological signs * | |||||||||
| B1 | F | 5 | 5.2 | + | neg. | neg. | +C→L | + | n.a. |
| B22 * | F | 5 | n.a. | + | neg. | neg. | +L | neg. | 9.0 |
| B3 | F | 5 | 4.3 | + | neg. | neg. | +C→L | + | n.a. |
| B4 | F | 5 | 4.8 | + | neg. | neg. | +C→L | + | n.a. |
| B5 | F | 5 | 4.6 | + | neg. | neg. | +C→L | + | n.a. |
| B6* | F | 5 | n.a. | (+) | neg. | neg. | +L | neg. | 10.5 |
| Mean, SD | 4.7±0.4 | ||||||||
| Group C (oral BSE infection, 16 g dose, exposed on a single occasion) – Animals were euthanized after the onset of neurological signs | |||||||||
| C1 | F | 5 | 3.7 | + | neg. | neg. | +C→L | + | n.a. |
| C2 | F | 5 | 5.3 | + | neg. | neg. | +C→L | + | n.a. |
| C3 | F | 5 | 4.5 | + | neg. | neg. | +C→L | + | n.a. |
| Mean, SD | 4.5± 0.8 | +C→L | |||||||
| Group C (oral BSE infection, cumulative dose of 8, 10 or 16 g BSE) – Animals did not develop neurological signs * | |||||||||
| C4 | F | 5 | n.a. | +/− | neg. | neg. | +L | neg. | 12 |
| C5 | F | 5 | n.a. | +/− | neg. | neg. | +L | neg. | 12 |
| C6 | F | 5 | n.a. | (+) | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | 15 |
| Group K (MOCK brain) – noninfected age- and sex-matched controls for A, B and C | |||||||||
| K1 | F | n.a. | n.a. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | n.a. |
| K2 | F | n.a. | n.a. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | 7.6 |
| K3 | F | n.a. | n.a. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | n.a. |
| K4 | F | n.a. | n.a. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | 10.3 |
| K5 | F | n.a. | n.a. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | n.a. |
| K6 | F | n.a. | n.a. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | n.a. |
| Group D (oral BSE infection, 5 g dose) – Animals were euthanized during the preclinical phase | |||||||||
| D1 | M | 5 | 1 | + | neg. | neg. | neg. | neg. | n.a. |
| D2 | M | 5 | 1 | +/− | neg. | +/− | neg. | neg. | n.a. |
| D3 | M | 5 | 3 | (+) | neg. | neg. | +L | neg. | n.a. |
| D4 | M | 5 | 3 | + | neg. | neg. | +C5–7, +L | neg. | n.a. |
Abbreviations: F, female; IP, incubation period; M, male; n.a., not applicable; n.d., not determined; neg., negative test result; y, years.
+, positive; (+), weakly positive; +/−, indeterminate results; +C→L, PrPres accumulations in all spinal cord segments (cervical to lumbar); C, cervical spinal cord segments; L, lumbar spinal cord segments.
1
All parts of the brain including hypophysis and medulla oblongata.
2
T2D pathogenesis was published elsewhere [32].
* B2, B6, C4, C5, and C6 had to be euthanized for humane reasons due to severe T2D before the prion disease onset.