Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with abnormal genitalia diagnosed with leucocyte chimerism
By Szczerbal, I et al.·Published in Reproduction in domestic animals = Zuchthygiene·2014·Department of Genetics and Animal Breeding·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A case of leucocyte chimerism (78,XX/78,XY) in a dog with a disorder of sexual development.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 1-year-old Shih Tzu was brought to the vet because of unusual external genitalia. The dog had a small penis but no testicles or scrotum, and an ultrasound showed a prostate but no detectable gonads. Genetic testing revealed that the dog had two different sets of chromosomes, indicating a condition called leucocyte chimerism, which can lead to disorders of sexual development. This case highlights the importance of genetic testing in understanding unusual reproductive issues in dogs.
People also search for: Shih Tzu abnormal genitalia · dog sexual development issues · leucocyte chimerism in dogs
Abstract
A 1-year-old Shih Tzu dog was presented for examination because of abnormal external genitalia. A residual penis with a prepuce was located in a position typical of a male. The dog had no palpable testicles or scrotum. The ultrasound examination revealed the presence of the prostate, but the gonads remained undetectable. Cytogenetic analysis performed on chromosome preparations obtained from lymphocyte culture showed two cell lines - 78,XX and 78,XY. Molecular analysis of 14 polymorphic microsatellite markers allowed us to distinguish leucocyte chimerism from whole body chimerism. The presence of 3 or 4 alleles was confirmed in DNA isolated from blood, while in DNA isolated from hair follicles only 1 or 2 alleles were detected. The case was classified as leucocyte 78,XX/78,XY chimerism. Our study showed that XX/XY leucocyte chimerism might be associated with disorder of sexual development in dogs. Furthermore, it is emphasized that the use of cytogenetic study, in combination with analysis of polymorphic markers in DNA isolated from different somatic cells, facilitates distinguishing between leucocyte and whole body chimerism.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24735223/