A novel copper-hydrogen peroxide formulation for prion decontamination

Abstract

With the appearance of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and the detection of infectious prions in the peripheral organs of persons with sporadic CJD, the development of decontamination methods that are compatible with medical equipment has become a major issue. Here, we show that a formulation of copper metal ions in combination with hydrogen peroxide dramatically reduces the level of prion protein (PrP)Sc (the scrapie isoform of PrP) present in homogenates of samples from prion-infected brains, including brain samples from humans with CJD. An animal bioassay confirmed the reduction in prion infectivity, indicating that this novel Cu2+-H2O 2 formulation has great potential for prion decontamination. © 2006 by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.