Evaluation of urinary PrPSc as a diagnostic test for sporadic, variant, and familial CJD

Previously collected urine specimens from 100 patients referred to the UK National CJD Surveillance Unit as suspected cases of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease (CJD) were analyzed, testing for abnormal prion protein (PrPSc). In this context, the test had a low sensitivity and was not completely specific for CJD. Additionally, the proteins detected by this assay were not PrPSc but appeared to be immunoglobulins.