Idiopathic Epilepsy in Dalmatian-Dogs
Some Finnish dalmatian owners and breeders have followed the official calls in Finnish media and sent blood of affected dogs to Dr. Lohi and/or reported cases of idiopathic epilepsy in dalmatians.
The Dalmatianclub of America has collected blood of affected dogs for the Canine Epilepsy Research project at the University of Missouri (http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/index.html). These DNA samples and the pedigrees are now in Dr. Lohi´s hand at the University of Helsinki, Finland.
After studying both pedigrees, from Finnish and American dalmatians (all diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy), the research leader Dr. Hannes Lohi got this first impression:
"In Finland there are affected Dalmatian dogs that suffer from idiopathic epilepsy. We see the same situation in many other countries too. Some Dalmatian owners have informed me about the epilepsy problems and have sent blood samples from their dogs for the research purposes. If we get more samples now I believe that we really could identify the Dalmatian epilepsy gene or genes and develop a gene test for the breed so that the disease can be eradicated from the breed. For the first time, there are now new technologies available for dogs which will make this project successful feasible.
In order to identify the gene (from localization up to developing a gene test) we need 50 samples from epileptic dogs (plus their healthy parents and siblings) and 50 control samples from healthy dogs (minimum 7 years old and without any epileptic seizure*). From USA we have already collected samples, so all we need is more samples from affected dogs and their unaffected siblings and parents.
From the available pedigree data in USA and Finland it seems that the epilepsy in dalmatians has likely a simple genetic background. It is possible that either one recessive or two dominant genes are responsible and those should be found relatively easily.
There are no good clinical epilepsy studies performed for Dalmatians but owners reported cases in Finland and USA indicates that the onset of the epilepsy varies a lot and is likely different from the epilepsy we have seen in many other breeds. Dalmatians can get sick from 14 weeks up to 8 years. This makes it hard to resist the disease in the breed. Breeders cannot rely on the age of the onset of the first seizures to determine whether the disease is inherited or caused by other reasons, and no breeder is able to be sure not to breed with a carrier. It has happened that dogs got affected only after their off-springs had already been used in breeding. This way the bad genes may have been carried unknown through three generations and more."
Dr. Hannes Lohi, Helsinki, 21.3.2007
Dr. Hannes Lohi
Adjunct Professor
Academy Research Fellow
University of Helsinki and Folkhälsan Institute
Biomedicum Helsinki, Finland
Leader of the Canine Epielpsy Consortium in Europe
Email: hannes.lohi(at)helsinki.fi
* defined as such for the purpose of this specific study by Hannes Lohi, 7.05.2007
What do we expect from this study:
- informations concerning the commoness of epilepsy inside our breed
- better understandig of the "different types" of epilepsy
- showing up of breed specific factors
- knowledge concerning the way of inheritage and possible breeding recomendations
- optimization of medication, treatment and "life-style factors"
- gene-test:
- clear identification of carriers and non-carriers
- breedeers don´t have to take any risks
- epilepsy in our breed can be erased
- gene pool can be kept large
Email: epidal@dalmatiner.org