Atopic Dermatitis Study Update

January 2007, NEWS

Dear Westie owners and breeders,

A little over two years ago, we set up a collaboration between the Westie Foundation and our research group at NCSU to investigate the genetic factors that trigger atopic dermatitis (AD) in Westies. We obtained a pilot grant (ACORN) from the American Kennel club to begin collecting information and DNA samples from normal and atopic westies.

Our collection phase ended recently, and we are happy to report that our goals have been met! We are now in possession of 225 questionnaires corresponding to 118 normal westies, 69 with a skin disease classified as AD and 38 with “undetermined” status (i.e. westies with some skin lesions that are not typical for AD). From these 225 questionnaires, our technician, Judy Paps, selected 114 Westies belonging to 12 different family groups with at least 2-3 generations to participate in DNA extraction and serum testing. Remarkably, out of the 114 sampling kits that we sent out, 109 came back with the requested blood samples.

We will now send collected serum samples to a well-known allergy testing laboratory (Greer laboratories, Lenoir, NC) who will test for the presence of IgE allergic antibodies against pollen and mite allergens.

The ”coded” information assembled on diseased and normal dogs and their pedigrees has been sent to a biostatistician at NCSU who will be in charge of determining – statistically – what the most likely genetic mode of transmission of the disease is. She will also test whether we have enough DNA samples to proceed with a second study, one aimed at selecting which part of the canine genome is linked with this trait.

We are very grateful to all of you ( and your Westies ) who contributed to this study! Many of you went out of your way in order to assist us in collecting information and samples. Without your participation, this project would not have been a success!

We are especially indebted to Drs Bob McCaskill and Kay McGuire, Wayne Kompare and Ann Marie Holowathy who spent much time helping us.

We will be in touch later this year with the findings of the statistical analysis.

Thierry Olivry, DrVet, PhD Judy Paps, Research Technician

Note: If you would like an electronic version of this letter so you can share this information with Westie owners who participated in the study but who are not members of the parent club or the WFA, contact aholowathy@msn.com.