Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Urate oxidase gene ruled out for high urine uric acid in Dalmatians
By Safra, N et al.·Published in The Journal of heredity·2005·Department of Population Health and Reproduction, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Exclusion of urate oxidase as a candidate gene for hyperuricosuria in the Dalmatian dog using an interbreed backcross.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of Dalmatians with high levels of uric acid in their urine was studied to find out why they had this condition, known as hyperuricosuria. Researchers looked at a specific gene called urate oxidase, which is responsible for breaking down uric acid, but found no changes in the gene that could explain the problem. They also used a breeding study with Dalmatians and pointers to track genetic markers and confirmed that the urate oxidase gene is not the cause of high uric acid levels in Dalmatians. This means that the reason for this condition remains unknown.
People also search for: Dalmatian uric acid problem · why does my Dalmatian have high uric acid · hyperuricosuria in dogs
Abstract
Hyperuricosuria, an autosomal recessive disorder, is characterized by high levels of uric acid in the urine of Dalmatian dogs. Whereas high levels of uric acid are known to be caused by the silencing of the urate oxidase (uox) gene in humans and higher primates, the molecular basis for the Dalmatian defect is unknown. Transplantation studies show that the organ responsible for the Dalmatian phenotype is the liver, which is where urate oxidase is exclusively expressed and uric acid is converted into allantoin. We cloned and sequenced the canine uox cDNA and compared the sequence between a Dalmatian and non-Dalmatian dog. No change in cDNA sequence was identified. A Dalmatian x pointer backcross family was used to track the segregation of microsatellite markers surrounding the urate oxidase locus. The uox gene was excluded for Dalmatian hyperuricosuria based on the cDNA sequence identity and negative LOD scores.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15958795/