The life and health of Westies improved:

Twenty-Six Grants Supported by WFA

Bob McCaskill, DVM, MPH, DACVPM
Health Committee

Summer, 2005

In 2004 and 2005, our foundation was able to support some superb research. It is unbelievable that since 1999, we have supported twenty-six grants to improve the life and health of the breed. Here is a summary of the current status of funded projects:

Basophile/Mast Cell Response to Lectins as a Predictor for Risk of Allergic Disease in Genetically Susceptible Dogs. Bruce Hammerberg, DVM, PhD. North Carolina State University. Since the 1999 Health Survey, our foundation has been a major sponsor with the Canine Health Foundation in supporting Dr. Hammerberg’s allergic skin disease research. He reports that his grant has provided the basis for establishing a monoclonal antibody test for major risk allergic dogs. He intends to do further definitive work and correlation testing with clinical disease cases. What his research accomplished was the identification of cell surface glycoprotein that appears to be involved in the mast cell/basophile response of allergic disease in dogs. What Dr. Hammerberg needs now are clinical samples for testing to determine definitive correlation between test results and clinical histories and signs of Atopy. Ann Marie Holowathy is the Atopy Task Force chairperson. She is working with Dr. Hammerberg on a call for cases.

The identification of a monoclonal antibody associated with allergic skin disease (Atopy) is a significant breakthrough for our breed. If a correlation between the test results and clinical signs proves definitive, our breed would have a simple, inexpensive test for puppies that would determine the potential to develop allergic skin disease. This is a potential Silver Bullet!

DNA Marker of Atopic Skin Disease in the West Highland White Terrier. Thierry Olivry. DVM, PhD. North Carolina State University. Allergic skin disease (Atopy) is the number one health issue in our breed. Dr. Olivry is an internationally noted dermatologist who started working with our foundation in 2003 in an attempt to determine the DNA marker for this disease. Ann Marie Holowathy, Chairperson of our Atopy Task Force, is now working with him to collect pedigrees from family groups of affected and nonaffected atopic dogs. Dr. Olivry has a short report further in the newsletter.

Establishing a Genetic Linkage between Addison’s Disease & DNA Markers. Anita Oberbauer, PhD. University of California, Davis. Addison’s Disease was identified in our 1999 Health Survey. Karen Lindburg chairs our Addison’s Disease Task Force and works closely to support Dr. Oberbauer. Dr. Oberbauer reports that she continues to collect Westie pedigrees, Addisonian status phenotypic data and mouth epithelial cells for DNA extraction. To date she has collected 314 Westie samples, including fortyone affected cases. She has also started to apply statistical modeling to confirm mode of inheritance genome scanning in the large Standard Poodle family and the Portuguese Water Dog family. She relates that she could use more pedigrees from Westies, particularly for families with affected dogs. If a member knows or hears of a case, please contact Karen Lindberg.

Character of Occlusion of Portosystemic Shunts after Cellophane Band Placement. Andrew E. Kyles, BVMS, PhD. Auburn University. Portosystemic shunts are reported in our breed. Although not identified in our 1999 Health Survey, we were able to combine with the Morris Animal Health Foundation to support this grant. The objective of this study was to improve the management of patients with portosystemic shunts. Dr. Kyles evaluated cellophane bands as a method of gradual shunt occlusion. Cellophane bands have been used to gradually occlude portosystemic shunt vessels in dogs. This study showed the placement of a cellophane band results in an initial drop in blood flow. However, the subsequent pattern of changes in blood flow is very variable with some dogs. Some dogs showed a progressive decrease and some dogs maintained fairly consistent flow. Complete occlusion of the flow was not found in any dog. The result raised doubts about the reliability and effectiveness of cellophane bands for gradual occlusion of portosystemic shunts in the dog.

Identification of the Genetic Cause of Cataracts in Small Breeds. George Brewer, MD, PhD. University of Michigan. This grant’s objectives were to carry out a genome wide search in nine breeds to establish close linkage of a DNA marker to the Cataract gene in that breed; use the DNA marker for objective 1 to establish position in the emerging canine genome map; and to use homology to the human map to generate “post-hoc” candidate genes. The study’s last objective was to evaluate thirty-four “post-hoc” candidate genes as causal for cataracts in the breed.

Dr. Brewer reports that they positively excluded three candidate genes to cataracts and are working on a fourth. Overall they have tried thirty-one candidate genes tested in four breeds resulting in no positive findings. The project investigated candidate genes in four breeds but no causal gene for inherited cataracts were identified for specific breeds. The research has significantly narrowed the field of candidate genes that cause cataracts in these breeds. One Westie family with seventeen total dogs of which four were affected was used in the study.

We hope to support six new grants with the Morris Animal Health Foundation and potentially two new grants with the Canine Health Foundation. We will continue our support of the second year of the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis research project.

To continue our success we need:

• YOUR MONEY – we can’t support research without your contributions.
  
  
• YOUR TIME – we need volunteers to participate in several of our task forces, but especially the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis study.
  
  
• CASES – both affected and nonaffected. Without cases, our researchers can’t correlate clinical disease to their hypothesis.
  
  

Finally, our Foundation, together with the West Highland White Terrier Club of America, will mail out the second Health Survey this coming fall. Please take the time to complete the survey and mail it back. This survey is extremely important to our breed because it helps us determine our future funded research projects.