Genome-wide association study concerning idiopathic epilepsy in Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen

The dog breed Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen has a relatively high
prevalence of idiopathic epilepsy compared to other dog breeds and
previous studies have suggested a genetic cause of the disease in this
breed. Based on these observations, a genome wide association study was
performed to identify possible epilepsy-causing loci. The study included
30 unaffected and 23 affected dogs, genotyping of 170K SNPs, and data
analysis using PLINK and EMMAX. Suggestive associations at CFA13, CFA24
and CFA35 were identified with markers close to three strong candidate
genes. However, subsequent sequencing of exons of the three genes did not
reveal sequence variations, which could explain development of the
disease. This is to our knowledge the first report on loci and genes with
a possible connection to idiopathic epilepsy in Petit Basset Griffon
Vendeen. However, further studies are needed to conclusively identify the
genetic cause of idiopathic epilepsy in this dog breed.