The dog as a genetic model for immunoglobulin A (IgA) deficiency: Identification of several breeds with low serum IgA concentrations

The Heterogeneous Pathogenesis of Selective Immunoglobulin A Deficiency

“…There are a number of reports on wolves, chickens and several breeds of dogs with IgA deficiency but the molecular basis of these deficiencies has not been discovered [109-112]. Since in mice, almost any given gene can be a manipulated, several suspected genes related to the IgA production have been switched off and examined for immunological and clinical consequences.…”

IgA deficiency in wolves from Canada and Scandinavia

“…The small number of captive wolves (n = 13) with eight closely related wolves from one family displayed extremely low IgA levels (median = 0.028) and all but 1 individual were IgAD (Table 1). In general, the Scandinavian wolf groups displayed similar low IgA concentrations as Shar-Pei dogs (median IgA = 0.08 g/l) (Olsson et al, 2014), an IgAD high-risk breed. The Canadian wolf population sample was comparable to dogs in general (median IgA = 0.18 g/l) (Olsson et al, 2014).…”

“…S2). The production of IgA is known to be age-dependent (Felsburg et al, 1985;Glickman et al, 1988;Olsson et al, 2014;Reynolds and Johnson, 1970), therefore we tested for such a correlation in the Scandinavian wolf samples, given that information on the approximate age in years (age range: 0-10 years) was available for that group. However, we did not observe a correlation between IgA concentration and age (Kendall's rank correlation, p-value = 0.1109, τ = 0.0842) indicating a potential difference between dogs and wolves.…”

“…Samples showing strong variation (CV > 15%) between the duplicates were rerun and potential outliers were subsequently excluded (n = 2). The protocol has previously been used to screen serum samples from dogs and wolves for IgA deficiency Olsson et al, 2014;Tengvall et al, 2013). Briefly, polyclonal goat anti-dog IgA antibodies (AbD Serotec, Oxford, UK) and alkaline phosphatase-conjugated polyclonal goat antidog IgA antibodies (Bethyl Laboratories, TX, USA) were used to measure serum IgA concentrations.…”

“…In humans, IgAD is defined by serum IgA concentrations in individuals older than 4 years of age equal to or less than 0.07 g/l, while showing normal levels of IgG and IgM concomitantly (Al-Herz et al, 2011). Serum IgA concentrations vary widely among different dog breeds making it difficult to define the normal range and to establish a generally accepted cutoff for canine IgAD (Olsson et al, 2014). Still, selected dog breeds, such as the Shar-Pei (Moroff et al, 1986;Olsson et al, 2014;Rivas et al, 1995) and the German shepherd (Whitbread et al, 1984), stand out as high-risk breeds for IgAD with a large number of individuals with very low serum IgA concentrations.…”