一種敏感的血液學檢測用于折疊蛋白疾病，例如牛海綿體腦病，又叫做瘋牛病，能夠提供早期診斷。

這種檢測使用小型的、模擬蛋白折疊的合成肽類。這些肽類檢測方法能夠在有害蛋白質在大腦蓄積之前，檢測出血液中的蛋白。這些有害蛋白質的蓄積與大腦損傷、疾病癥狀盒最終的死亡有關聯。

這種檢測方法是由Cindy Orser醫生研制的，他是Adlyfe公司的研究與開發副總裁。這種檢測方法設計用于檢測綿羊瘋癢病和人類Cruetzfeld-Jacob病也就是瘋牛病。該公司對該項技術擁有11項，該技術同樣可以用于其他蛋白折疊疾病例如Alzheimer病和Huntington病。Adlyfe公司已經在牛、綿羊和人類的臨床實驗室采集的大腦組織和血液樣本中檢測出了蛋白感染素疾病。

Adlyfe公司首席執行官Alan S. Rudolph評論說：“我們對測試的早期結果感到十分鼓舞，這標志著我們能夠從動物和人類的血液和組織樣本中成功檢測出疾病。我們希望能夠為這些惡性疾病的早期檢測和診斷提供新的檢測方法。”Adlyfe是一家生物科技公司，側重于新型血液診斷和治療領域。

Blood Test for Mad Cow Disease
 
A sensitive blood test for protein-folding diseases such as spongiform bovine encephalopathy (SBE), also known as mad cow disease, could provide an earlier diagnosis.

The test uses small, synthetic peptides that mimic protein folding. The peptides detect the build-up of damaging proteins in blood before they accumulate in the brain. This accumulation is correlated to brain damage, disease symptoms, and eventual death.

The test was developed by Dr. Cindy Orser, vice president, research and development, Adlyfe, Inc. (Rockville, MD, USA). The test is designed to detect sheep scrapie and Cruetzfeld-Jacob disease in humans as well as mad cow disease. The company has 11 patents pending on the technology, which also addresses other protein-folding diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s disease. Adlyfe has demonstrated detection of prion diseases in brain tissue and the blood of cattle, sheep, and humans in clinical laboratory sampling.

“We are very encouraged by the early results of our test which show we can detect disease in blood and tissue samples from animals and humans,” commented Alan S. Rudolph, CEO of Adlyfe. “We look forward to offering a new test for early detection and diagnosis of these debilitating diseases.” Adlyfe is a biotechnology company focused on novel blood diagnostics and therapeutics.