Question

What is the histological appearance of brain in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease -

• A. Neuronophagia
• B. Spongiform change in brain
• C. Microabscesses
• D. Demyelination

Hint:

Prion disease gives the grey matter a sponge-like vacuolated look.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Anchor on the category of disease. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is the prototype human prion disorder, and prion disorders are collectively named transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. The word spongiform itself signals the histology.

Step 2: Picture the slide. Accumulating abnormal prion protein punches tiny vacuoles into neurons and the surrounding neuropil, giving the grey matter a sponge-like or bubbly look. The change spreads through all cortical layers and the cerebellar molecular layer, with added neuronal dropout and reactive gliosis.

Step 3: Match each wrong option to its real home. Neuronophagia and microabscesses are inflammatory or infective patterns, and demyelination is loss of myelin as in multiple sclerosis. None of these defines CJD.

Step 4: The histological hallmark of CJD is spongiform change in the brain.

\[\boxed{\text{Spongiform change in brain}}\]