Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Early life factors and heritability of atopic dermatitis in West
By Rostaher, Ana et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2020·Clinic for Small Animal Internal Medicine·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Atopic dermatitis in a cohort of West Highland white terriers in Switzerland. Part II: estimates of early life factors and heritability.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of West Highland white terriers was studied to understand what factors might lead to atopic dermatitis (a skin allergy) in dogs. Researchers found that male puppies were more likely to develop this condition, especially if their mothers had allergies. Other factors like the environment they were raised in and their early life experiences also played a role. The study suggests that both genetics and environmental influences are important in the development of atopic dermatitis in these dogs. More research is needed to pinpoint specific environmental triggers that could help prevent this skin issue.
People also search for: West Highland white terrier skin allergies · dog atopic dermatitis causes · how to prevent dog allergies
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is accumulating evidence in studies of allergic diseases in humans and dogs that environmental experiences during the first months of life can influence the development of allergic disease. No prospective study has evaluated this in veterinary medicine. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To assess early-life risk factors for canine atopic dermatitis (cAD) and estimate its heritability. ANIMALS: A West Highland white terrier birth cohort (n = 107) followed up to three years of age recording the development of cAD. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The effect of environmental factors [house dust mites (HDM), hygiene, feeding, lifestyle] and early-life determinants [breeder, mode of delivery, birth season, sex, litter size, early-life immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels] were assessed, using Stata SE 15.1 statistical analysis. Heritabilities were estimated using the R program packages MCMCglmm and QGglmm. RESULTS: Maternal allergic status [P = 0.013, odds ratio (OR 3.3)], male sex (P = 0.06), mode of delivery (P = 0.12), breeder (P = 0.06), presence of HDM (P = 0.11) and environmental hygiene level (P = 0.15) were identified as possible influence factors by bivariate analyses. In the multivariate analysis the male sex was significantly associated with the development of cAD in the offspring (P = 0.03, OR 2.4). The heritabilities on the observed scale were 0.31 (direct), 0.04 (maternal genetic effects) and 0.03 (maternal permanent environmental effects). CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: These results suggest that several environmental factors could influence the development of cAD but clearly demonstrate the genetic influence of the individual and the dam. Further studies are needed to identify specific environmental factors, which could be potential targets for primary disease intervention.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32077169/