Management of Prion Diseases

Treatment

There is no cure for prion diseases, and no treatment has been found to be completely effective once symptoms appear.

Quinacrine has shown some promise in slowing the progression of disease in patients with vCJD.

Supportive care may be provided and involves testing for encephalitis and being observant of the onset of dementia.

The most effective potential target for developing a treatment seems to be interrupting the conversion of PrPc to PrPsc, possibly by stabilizing PrPc or destabilizing PrPsc.

Studies in mice have shown promising results for the use of monoclonal antibodies as treatment. The monoclonal antibodies appear to stop the conversion of normal prion protein into the abnormal infectious form, preventing it from accumulating.

Prevention

Prevention is the only clear solution at this time.

Eforts include early testing of affected animals and humans, quarantine of livestock, and changes in livestock feed to avoid animal consumption of other infected animal byproducts.