An investigation of the macrophage electrophoretic mobility test in the diagnosis of scrapie in sheep.

Abstract Attempts to confirm the rapid immunological test for scrapie, on samples from 49 scrapie-injected and normal sheep, have been unsuccessful. The test is based on the macrophage electrophoretic mobility test in which putatively sensitized lymphocytes, in the presence of antigen, release a soluble factor which reduces the surface charge on macrophages. The results showed that there were no consistent alterations in the electrophoretic mobility of macrophages resulting from this interaction between lymphocytes and antigen, and failed to reveal any validity in the test for the diagnosis of scrapie.