Patent ID: 7368247

Claim:
A method of identifying a subject suffering from a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy selected from the group consisting of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and Bovine Spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in a test subject comprising: (i) performing an immunoassay for determining a level of brain-derived heart fatty acid binding protein in a body fluid sample derived from said test subject suspected of suffering from a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy selected from the group consisting of CJD and BSE; and (ii) comparing the level of brain-derived heart fatty acid binding protein in the body fluid sample derived from said test subject to the level of brain-derived heart fatty acid binding protein in a body fluid sample derived from a control subject wherein the control subject does not exhibit a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy selected from the group consisting of CJD and BSE; wherein an elevated level of brain-derived heart fatty acid binding protein in the body fluid sample derived from said test subject compared to the level of brain-derived heart fatty acid binding protein in the body fluid sample derived from the control subject, in combination with clinical evaluation of acute myocardial infarction in the subject and assaying for a marker of acute myocardial infarction in the subject and obtaining a non-elevated level of the marker in comparison with a normal control which is characteristic of the subject having no acute myocardial infarction, identifies that the test subject suffers from the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy selected from the group consisting of CJD and BSE.