Systemic AA amyloidosis as a prion-like disorder

Amyloidosis is a collective term for a group of disorders that induce functional impairment of organs and occurs through the accumulation of amyloid, or misfolded protein in beta-sheets. AA amyloidosis is a lethal systemic amyloidosis with SAA as the precursor protein, and is observed in various animal species, including humans. AA amyloidosis can be induced artificially by continuously administering inflammatory stimuli in experimental animal models. In this process of experimental induction, the administration of AA amyloids from either the same or different species is known to markedly expedite AA amyloidosis development, and this is also termed transmission of AA amyloidosis. Similarly to prion disease, AA amyloidosis is considered to be transmitted via a seeding-nucleation process. In this manuscript, we reviewed the pathology and transmissibility of AA amyloidosis in animals. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.