The NCJDSU Tissue Resource: support for continued banking activities

朊病毒疾病是影响大脑的致命疾病，包括疯牛病或疯牛病等疾病。疯牛病？牛的克雅氏病和人类的克雅氏病克雅氏病的一种形式，被称为变异型克雅氏病，与通过饮食接触疯牛病有关。朊病毒疾病具有传染性，对克雅氏病和疯牛病的研究表明，传染性病原体在大脑中积聚的水平最高。然而，这种物质也可以存在于全身的其他组织中。本研究的目的是在爱丁堡国家CJD监测单位的一个银行中继续收集和储存各种形式的CJD组织。该数据库在发现变异CJD方面发挥了关键作用，并被英国和世界各地的研究人员广泛使用。收集的材料来自疑似克雅氏病患者尸检时采集的组织和器官，只有在亲属同意的情况下。我们也从活着的病人身上采集血液样本，同样是在家属同意的情况下。该银行已获得我们当地伦理委员会的批准，并已用于许多研究项目，产生了重要的科学和医学出版物。来自这项研究的信息也对NHS的工作产生了重大影响，特别是在减少通过输血和手术器械传播变异克雅氏病的机会方面。我们相信，未来英国和其他地方的研究人员将继续需要这个数据库，因为关于这类疾病还有很多悬而未决的问题。还有一个主要的需求是帮助开发一种可以用于在世患者的CJD测试，这将通过使用我们银行的组织和血液样本来帮助。我们按照MRC的指导方针运营银行，并计划使用MRC指导小组（其中包括2名公众成员）来监督我们的工作。我们的工作成果以多种形式呈现，例如科学和医学论文、演讲（包括公开演讲）以及接受新闻界、电台和电视采访。

Prion diseases are fatal disorders that affect the brain, and include diseases such as BSE or ?mad cow disease? in cattle and CJD in humans. One form of CJD, known as variant CJD, is linked to exposure to BSE through the diet. Prion diseases are transmissible, and studies of CJD and BSE have shown that the infectious agent accumulates at highest levels in the brain. However, the agent can also be present in a range of other tissues throughout the body. The aim of this research is to continue the collection and storage of tissues from all forms of CJD in a bank in the National CJD Surveillance Unit, Edinburgh. This bank played a key role in the discovery of variant CJD, and is used by a wide range of researchers in UK and across the world. The material collected comes from tissue and organs taken at autopsy from patients with suspected CJD only when the relatives have given consent. We also collect blood samples from living patients, again with the consent of the relatives. The bank has approval for this work from our local Ethical Committee, and has been used for many research projects, resulting in major scientific and medical publications. The information from this research has also made a big impact on the work of the NHS, particularly in steps to reduce the chance of transmission of variant CJD by blood transfusion and by surgical instruments. We believe that the bank will continue to be needed by researchers in the UK and elsewhere in the future, since there are so many unanswered questions about this group of diseases. There is also a major need to help develop a test for CJD that can be used on living patients, which will be helped by the use of the tissue and blood samples in our bank. We run the bank according to MRC guidelines, and plan to use a MRC Steering Group (which includes 2 members of the public) to oversee our work. The results from our work are presented in many forms, such as scientific and medical papers, lectures (including public lectures) and in interviews with the press, radio and television.