TY - JOUR T1 - Marked abnormalities of plasma protein biomarkers in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) JF - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry JO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry SP - 1137 LP - 1137 DO - 10.1136/jnnp-2020-324307 VL - 91 IS - 11 AU - Simon Mead Y1 - 2020/11/01 UR - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/91/11/1137.abstract N2 - Neurologists are fortunate to have splendid diagnostic tests for prion diseases. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) real-time quaking-induced conversion assay (RT-QuIC test), in which abnormal prion protein stimulates the misfolding of recombinant protein, has proven to be sensitive and extremely specific for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). MRI features too, particularly high signal from the cortex, striatum or thalamus on diffusion-weighted imaging, are highly characteristic. Why then is further biomarker research necessary?Patients with CJD are too often diagnosed late in their clinical course when they can no longer contribute to plans for the end of their life or participate in clinical trials. As the annual incidence of sporadic CJD in many countries is substantially … ER -