Dermatology - Research
Atopic Dermatitis in West Highland White Terriers
Over the past few years, we have been working on the genetics of atopic dermatitis in West Highland White Terriers. With your help, we have collected DNA and pedigree information on over 100 Westies, both with and without the disease. Using the collected information and DNA we have attempted to identify chromosomal regions that segregate with atopic dermatitis using an approach called linkage analysis. Positive linkage would direct us to the gene(s) involved in the disease. Results from this first phase did not lead to statistically significant identification of genomic regions, but we identified some promising leads that we plan to investigate further in our ongoing work. Since this research was started, new technology has become available, which will allow us to perform a very high-density genome-wide screen relatively quickly. We plan to take advantage of the new canine ‘SNP chip’ technology in the next phase of our study of atopic dermatitis.
If you can help us by providing a blood sample from your Westie, please contact Cary Salzmann at casalzma@ncsu.edu. For more information about the study and for study forms and questionnaires, please visit the Westie Foundation website.