Main

THYROID AUTOIMMUNITY

The Georgie Project has begun a study of inherited thyroid autoimmunity. We are trying to determine if this disease is present in the Portuguese Water Dog population. If we can establish that the disease is present in the population we can pursue the genetic cause of the disease. See the links at the bottom of this page for more information on the disease as well as the TgAA assay.

In this pilot study we are assaying as many dogs as possible for TgAA (Thyroglobulin AutoAntibodies). This test has the potential to detect inherited autoimmune thyroiditis a year or two before symptoms become apparent.

With the cooperation of many owners we have already collected 47 samples. These are graphed below. The shading indicates the guidelines established by the laboratory used for testing, these guide-lines are not specific to Portuguese Water Dogs and may be adjusted in the future.

These preliminary data indicate that most Portuguese Water Dogs have normal levels of thyroglobulin autoantibodies. Three of the samples are borderline but no samples are in the danger zone. However, the number of samples collected so far is quite low. It is imperative that we get a larger number of samples to: 1) Establish a baseline for the Portuguese Water Dog, 2) Further define the normal border-line and danger zones and 3) Gain insight into the genetic nature of TgAA levels in the PWD population.

We encourage active participants of the Georgie Project (e.g. those with genotype dogs) to provide samples for this study. The procedure is relatively easy (four spots of blood on a special sheet of blotting paper) and the resulting data is potentially extremely useful. To obtain a Thyroid study kit please e-mail the Georgie Project. Please indicate which dog will be participating in the study.

TgAA% values are the percentage of Thyroglobulin AutoAntibodies relative to a known normal control. TgAA% for 47 dogs are graphed as a cumulative distribution. guideline ranges for normal, borderline and danger are indicated by blue orange and red shading.

Informative Links:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/thyroid.html

http://www.oxfordlabs.com/Q&A.htm

http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/Diseases/endocrine%20diseases/hypothyroidism.htm