Genetic Study in to Cruciate Disease in Newfoundland Dogs

An exciting new project has begun at Liverpool University Veterinary School to investigate cruciate ligament damage in Newfoundland dogs. This Disease affects around 22% of Newfoundland dogs and previous research has shown an inherited genetic component to the disease.

This project has received funding from both the Kennel Club and the UK Newfoundland club to investigate the actual genes involved in this debilitating disease. When the cruciate ligament ruptures it causes destabilisation of the knee – lameness, chronic pain, stiffness of the knee, and osteoarthritis which is incurable. This PhD project is being carried out by Arabella Baird in the Veterinary School of Liverpool University in collaboration with The Centre for Integrated Genomic research (CIGMR) at Manchester University.

The veterinary fees for consultations, surgery and after care are huge (in the United States in 2003 it was estimated that the annual cost for treating cruciate disease was $1.32billion). These costs are only going to go up year on year, as the surgery techniques become more advanced with more specialist equipment, and as the dogs are becoming increasingly more popular as pets. It is clear from these figures that if a test can be identified to determine which dogs have the causative gene then breeding strategies can be put in place to reduce the incidence of the disease in the dogs – a great benefit to Dogs, breeders, owners and all!

Cruciate disease is the most common cause of lameness in all dogs and does not only occur in Newfoundland dogs! It is also an extremely common sports injury in human athletes. The results from this project therefore could be used across all areas of science and medical research and be implicated in helping human diseases too.

SAMPLES REQUIRED

In order to carry out this research DNA samples are required from both Newfoundland’s that are affected by cruciate disease, but also Newfoundland’s who are free from cruciate disease and over the age of 7 years.

Clinical cases can be any age and cruciate disease must be confirmed during surgery.

Control cases must be over 7 years old and be confirmed cruciate symptom free* by a vet with a minimum postgraduate qualification of CertSAS.

We require 2-5ml of blood in an EDTA tube, or alternatively a salivary swab should be taken (specific sampling tubes can be provided upon request). All blood MUST be excess from other diagnostic/surgical tests being carried on the dog.

*signs of cruciate disease are: medial buttress formation, stifle joint effusion, positive tibial thrust and positive cranial draw.

ALL SAMPLES WILL BE ANONAMYSED AND KEPT CONFIDENTIAL. NO INFORMATION WILL BE DISCLOSED TO ANYONE ELSE. THE RESULTS WILL ONLY BE USED FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES.

For further information please visit the website http://ugwww.liv.ac.uk/~abaird/ Or contact: Arabella Baird (arabella.baird (AT) liv.ac.uk)