Systemic AA amyloidosis: a potential public health problem

The objective of this review is to inform animal health professionals about systemic AA amyloidosis, a little known potential public health problem in Mexico, which can result from the consumption of animal products. It is difficult to diagnose, since clinical signs depend on the type and location of the amyloid; and its terminal phase corresponds to renal failure. It consists of the accumulation of an extracellular protein material that can originate from about 37 normal proteins in humans and more than 15 in other aquatic and terrestrial mammals and in birds. It has a peculiar fibrillar structure in a beta-folded arrangement that confers great resistance to physicochemical agents, which makes difficult its elimination from food. Some amyloidosis, such as Alzheimer's disease in humans and cognitive dysfunction disorder in dogs, are localized, but AA amyloidosis is systemic and there is natural and experimental evidence that it can be transmitted intra- and interspecies when there is oral, intravenous or intraperitoneal entry of amyloid material in an individual with pre-existing chronic inflammatory disease or other risk factors, such as obesity, making it a potential public health problem.