NR ANZV
AU Asher,D.M.; Gibbs,C.J.Jr.; David,E.; Alpers,M.P.; Gajdusek,D.C.; Sadowsky,D.A.
TI Experimental Kuru in the Chimpanzee. Physical findings and clinical laboratory studies
QU Symposia of the Fourth International Congress of Primatology 1973; Vol. 4, Nonhuman Primates and Human Diseases: 43-90
PT proceedings
AB
In 41 chimpanzees with experimental kuru, the clinical disease was quite uniform and similar to natural kuru in man. The earliest clinical signs were changes in personality and decreased activity, followed by apraxias, confusion, perseveration, and a variety of other findings of diffuse cerebral cortical disease. Coarse tremors, ataxia, and dysmetria were universally present later in the illness; vacant facial expression with drooping lower lip and plastic rigidity were also common findings. Spasticity was rarely seen, and cranial nerve functions were intact until late in disease. There was no evidence of primary impairment of the spinal cord, peripheral nerves, or muscles. Electroencephalograms were consistent with diffuse cortical disease, and cerebrospinal fluids showed mild but significant elevation of albumin and globulin levels. The clinical picture suggested widespread degeneration of the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum, which correlates well with histological findings. Although there was a variety of minimal abnormalities in hematological values and clinical blood chemistries, there was no evidence of primary disease outside the central nervous system.
Experimental kuru differs somewhat from the natural disease in which cerebellar dysfuncti9on is the earliest and most prominent finding. The reason for this difference is not clear, but probably does not result simply from the intracerebral route of experimental inoculation.
AD National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, Bethesda, MD 20014, USA
SP englisch
PO USA