ResearchintoIdiopathicEpilepsyinthePetitand
GrandBassetGriffonVendeenintheUK.
Overthepast15yearstheBGVCluboftheUKhasbeen
collectingDNAsamplesfrombothPetitandGrandBasset
breedsinanattempttofindthegeneticcauseofidiopathic
epilepsyinourbreeds.Thisistheformofepilepsythat
iscausedbyageneticmutationandnotbyphysicalor
environmentalfactors.Theclubworksincollaborationwith
theAnimalHealthTrust(AHT),acharitablefoundation
largelyfinancedbyourKennelClubbutalsobyotherbreed
clubsanddonors.Theresearchintoidiopathicepilepsyis
ledbyDr.CathrynMellersh,aninternationallyrenowned
geneticistwhoisalsoworkingonthegeneticcausesof
primaryopenangleglaucoma(POAG)inthePBGV.
Severalinternationalsequencingtrialsinrecentyears
bothintheUnitedStatesandFinlandhavefailedtofindthe
mutationcausingidiopathicepilepsyinourbreeds,andafter
analysingtheresultsitwasdeterminedthatthequalityof
thebasedatawasinsufficientlyrigoroustoproducearesult.
In2010,theAnimalHealthTrustrequestedthatallDNA
samplessubmittedfromcasesofepilepsyshouldbeaccom-
paniedbytheresultsofagroupofnon-invasivefurthertests
totryandeliminatephysicalandenvironmentalcausesof
epilepsyandaskedtheownerstofillinaquestionnaire
regardingthehistoryofthetypeandfrequencyofthe
seizures.Ourclubagreedtopaythecostsofthesefurther
teststoimprovethequalityofthedatasuppliedforresearch,
andwenowholdfulldatasetsforsome30casesunderthe
newprotocolfromtheUK,Holland,GermanyandAustralia,
includingthreefromtheUSA.TheAnimalHealthTrusthas
advisedthattheyneedaminimumof48confirmedcases
beforetheycanundertakeapreliminaryDNAsequencing
trial,andwearecurrentlyraisingfundsinanticipationof
reachingthisnumberofcases.Contributionshavebeen
kindlymadebybreedclubsinHolland,Germanyandthe
USA,forwhichwearemostgrateful.TheFrenchclubhas
joinedtheprogramthisyear.
WecollecttheDNAintheformofcheekswabs,which
arestableandsimpleforanownertocollect.Thefurther
teststobecarriedoutbyaveterinariancomprisefull
haematologyandbiochemistryfromabloodsample,abile
acidstimulationtestandaneurologicalexamination.In
addition,theownerisrequestedtofillintheAHTowner’s
questionnaireandsubmitthewholedirectlytotheAHT.
TheswabkitsandquestionnairesareavailablefromHelen
IngherintheUSA:pbgv@charlen.com.
Thoseofyouwhohavehadacaseofepilepsyinyour
dogsknowonlytoowellwhataterribleafflictionthiscan
beforbothownerandpatient,soweareappealingtoall
ownersofaffecteddogstoassistusinthisprogram.The
soonerwecanreachtherequirednumberofconfirmedcases,
thesoonerwecanhopetoidentifythecausalmechanism
andeliminatetheconditionfromourbreedingstockforthe
benefitofthebreedworld-wide.Allinformationprovidedis
heldinstrictconfidencebetweentherelevanthealthofficers
andtheAnimalHealthTrust.
Thankingyouinadvanceforyourkindcooperation.
PeterMarks
HealthOfficer,BGVClubUK
PMarks1262@aol.com
40
www.pbgv.org
December2013
ISaberTails
IPBGVHealth&RescueFoundation
submittedbyChairmanHelenIngher,
pbgv@charlen.com
BGVClubinUKNeedsHelpwithEpilepsyStudy
ThefollowingrequesthasbeensenttomebyPeter
Marks,HealthOfficerintheBassetGriffonVendeen
ClubintheUK.
PleasemakeinitialcontactwithPeterMarks,
PMarks1262@aol.com,tobrieflydiscussyourPBGV’s
condition.ThiswillinsurethatyourPBGV’sDNA
willbebeneficialtotheepilepsyresearchbeing
conductedatAnimalHealthTrustintheUK.Aswe
allknow,healthproblemsareuniversalandevery
studybenefitsPBGVseverywhere,regardlessof
countryorclubaffliation.
Pleasedoyourpartbyparticipatinginthis
study.Theclubsandthedogsthankyouforyour
cooperationandparticipation.
—Helen
IThirdQuarterOFA/DNA/BloodBank
OFANO.
TEST.NAME/SEX
RESULTS
CHICNO.
PBG-639G37F-VPI
HD
JIMENYAVANTIOVERTHEMOON(F)
GOOD
PBG-638G34M-VPI
HD
GEBEBA’STICTOC(M)
GOOD
PBG-641G26F-VPI
HD
CLANCY’STHEWILDN’THEINNOCENT(F)
GOOD
92482
PBG-640F24M-VPI
HD
SKYCASTLEWALDHORNOFGEBEBA(M)
FAIR
92333
PBG-EYE30/13F-PI
EYE
CHANSONDEJAVOUSOFCHECKEREDFLAG(F)
NORMAL
PBG-EYE31/17F-PI
EYE
CHANSONOHHEUREUSEJOURNEE(F)
NORMAL
PBG-EYE29/3F-VPI
EYE
CREPUVISAGE&SUTTON’SGETTHEPARTYSTARTED(F)NORMAL