News Finding: The study showed that in animals that had previously been infected with a gut worm, the spread of the prions to the brain was reduced, delaying the onset of disease.
Paper Finding: Pathogen induced alterations to GALT also have the potential to influence prion uptake and disease susceptibility.
News Context: The study shows how the progression of prion diseases to the brain is slowed if animals have previously been infected with a gut worm. The study showed that in animals that had previously been infected with a gut worm, the spread of the prions to the brain was reduced, delaying the onset of disease. The team observed that previous infection with a gut worm reduced this accumulation, hindering the ability of the prions to then spread to the brain where they cause damage to nerve cells.
Paper Context: This may help to explain why the majority of the clinical vCJD cases have been predominantly recorded in young individuals (typical median age at onset of clinical disease ~26 years old) 18 . Pathogen induced alterations to GALT also have the potential to influence prion uptake and disease susceptibility. Oral prion disease is blocked in mice lacking these cells 22 , and exacerbated in mice with an increased M cell-density 22 .