Comprehensive Insights into Prion Diseases: Classification, Mechanisms of Action, Detection Methods, and Preventive Strategies

Abstract

Health concerns have become increasingly prominent in society, with even minor injuries demonstrating an exaggerated potential for complications. This phenomenon parallels an unrelated yet historically significant observation from the 18th century, wherein Merino sheep exhibited abnormal behavioural manifestations indicative of a mysterious ailment. Upon further scientific investigation, this condition was identified as the first recorded instance of a novel class of neurodegenerative disorders now classified as prion diseases, or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which are brought on by aberrant folding of the brain's cellular prion protein (PrPc). Rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disorders due to prion disease can be seen that can be tough to analyse and are transmissible under certain circumstances. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, sometimes known as prion diseases, are a fatal class of inherited, spontaneous, and epidemic neurodegenerative illnesses that affect both humans and animals. Prion disease arises in three ways: acquired or sporadic, inherited, or causal. Many pharmacological techniques and therapies aimed at various stages of the illness progression have been developed and assessed over an extended period, with a select number making progress in clinical trials. As yet, there are no helpful treatment medications authorised for prion illnesses. This paper contains a comprehensive study of the prion protein, prion disease, and different types of prion disease found in animals and humans. The mechanism of this disease, as well as its detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, is discussed in this article. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.