Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Mitochondrial DNA mutations linked to hair loss in Pomeranian dogs
By Kang, Yeong-Hun et al.·Published in Veterinary dermatology·2022·Laboratory of Veterinary Dermatology and the Research Institute for Veterinary Science, South Korea·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: The number of mitochondrial DNA mutations as a genetic feature for hair cycle arrest (alopecia X) in Pomeranian dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Four Pomeranian dogs were diagnosed with hair cycle arrest (HCA), a condition that causes hair loss, while four other Pomeranians showed no signs of the disease. Researchers found that the affected dogs had a significantly higher number of mitochondrial DNA mutations compared to the healthy ones, suggesting a genetic link to HCA. While the exact cause of this hair loss condition remains unclear, the study indicates that these mitochondrial mutations could be a key factor in understanding and potentially treating HCA in Pomeranians.
People also search for: Pomeranian hair loss treatment · dog alopecia causes · genetic hair loss in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hair cycle arrest (HCA) is a noninflammatory alopecic disease affecting various dog breeds, particularly Pomeranian dogs. This disease is probably a hereditary disorder considering the strong breed predisposition. Despite efforts to identify the pathogenesis of this disease, an underlying specific cause is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To identify candidate gene mutations for HCA in Pomeranian dogs. ANIMALS: Four Pomeranian dogs diagnosed with HCA and four unaffected Pomeranian dogs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Whole blood was used for DNA extraction. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed, and variants were analysed using a Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) and SnpEff. All reads were aligned to the reference genome, Dog10K_Boxer_Tasha. Sanger sequencing was performed to define the complex mutations. RESULTS: A total of 113 variants of mitochondrial DNA were found to be effective gene mutations in the eight dogs. The affected dogs showed significantly increased effective mutations (average 57 variants) compared with unaffected dogs (average eight variants; p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the number of chromosomal DNA mutations between the two groups. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: We suggest that an increased number of mitochondrial gene mutations are features for HCA in Pomeranian dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36000586/