Filter Removes Prion Proteins During Blood Transfusions

Canadian scientists have developed a special filter for use during blood transfusions. The filter quickly and effectively removes deadly proteins responsible for the human form of Mad Cow disease.

The so-called prion proteins cause a variant form of the human neurologic disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Termed variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), its emergence triggered recent bans on exportation of beef from Europe. Variant CJD also can be transmitted in blood transfusions.

The new filter can remove prions from red blood cell concentrate in less than an hour. Transfusions of red blood cells go to thousands of patients with chronic anemia resulting from kidney failure, cancer, gastrointestinal bleeding, and acute blood loss resulting from trauma. The scientists took five years to develop the device and are now working on ways to remove prion proteins from other blood components, including plasma and plasma proteins.

About the size of a person's hand, the device contains a specially designed material that recognizes and binds to prions. "This technology adds a needed layer of protection against the transmission of vCJD through blood transfusion,” said Patrick V. Gurgel, Ph.D., senior research scientist at ProMetic Life Sciences in Mont-Royal (Quebec, Canada).

"The use of the device will significantly decrease the risk of acquiring vCJD through blood transfusions,” said Dr. Gurgel at the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society held in New Orleans (LA, USA) from April 6-10, 2008. The device has been approved for use in Europe "and has no competitor at the moment,” said Dr. Gurgel.

In previous studies, the scientists showed that the device could successfully remove prions from the blood of infected hamsters and that the disinfected blood could be injected into healthy hamsters without causing disease. More recently, scientists demonstrated that the device could also filter healthy human blood without damaging the red blood cells and other blood components, a finding that demonstrates that the technique is safe for use on human blood.

Human clinical studies using the device, called the P-Capt Prion Capture filter, are underway in Europe, where it has received approval for commercialization. The first commercialization will be in Ireland and the United Kingdom and is expected in mid-2008.


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