Color Dilution Alopecia Research Project
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This page is a work in progress, breaking news from March 23, 2007
It is rambling and not exactly professional, but please forward and crosspost to everyone who owns or breeds Blues that you can find this email ...
I have found a Dr Tosso Leeb in Europe through another Dr (Dr Sheila Schmutz in Canada) that is doing research on Color Dilution Alopecia in dogs. He is very interested in studying the Dilute (Blue/Fawn) Miniature Pinscher to see if he can find a DNA marker for CDA. Can we get the samples he needs, we must have at least 20 samples from balding dogs & 20 non-balding dogs? Please say we can send him 40 of each!!! We've gotta do this!!! This Dr is willing to "find" the funding ... we don't even have to pay for the study. All we have to pay for is the blood draws and the shipping to get it to him, and we are working on fund raisers to pay for those who cannot afford the testing. But we'd have to coordinate getting the samples sent to him while it is cool enough to pack & ship blood. Here is his letter to me.
"thank you very much for your message. I would be very interested to
do some research on hair loss in blue dogs but I am simply not able
to get enough samples for this kind of research. To have at least a
minimal chance of success I would need EDTA blood samples from 20
blue Min-Pins with normal hair coat and 20 blue Min-Pins with
alopecia. If I could get these samples I would certainly try very
seriously to get some funding for the research. The University of
Berne would be a very good place to start this project as we have
excellent dermato-pathologists on the campus that could study
functional aspects in addition to us working on the genetics parts.
If you have any idea how these sample numbers could be collected,
please let me know."
And here is Dr Leeb's 2nd letter ...
"thank you for your enthusiastic reply. I am very excited about
our correspondence. The Miniature Pinschers may finally represent
the breed where we can get enough samples from CDA-affected and
healthy dogs for our research. Just to make sure, I would like to
repeat that I think we have a chance of some progress if we can
raise the 20+20 samples. Unfortunately, I can not guarantee you
any success within a fixed period of time.
Regarding those samples: I do not necessarily need them at one
time. As they have to be shipped across the Atlantic Ocean I am
afraid that shipment with a courier sevice such as FedEx will be
necessary to prevent the DNA from degrading. If you or your
colleagues send them immediately after collection you can send
them at room temperature. If you would like to save on shipping
costs you may freeze the blood samples at -20 °C and store them
until you have several or all samples together. However, in that
case you should send the frozen samples on dry ice as it is not
so good if the samples undergo more than one freeze-thaw cycle.
Regarding the colors and phenotypes: We will take any blue or
isabella fawn dogs that show signs of hair loss (CDA). As controls
we would like to receive only blue or isabella fawn dogs above
two years of age that do not have any visible hair loss."
Please JOIN US and INVITE every Blue and Fawn breeder and owner that you can find. Contact your Blue and Fawn puppy buyers! In fact, please insist that they JOIN the eGroup: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/OperationBluePrints/ AT LEAST temporarily. The official "count" is being held on that eGroups POLL section. I need to keep a count for the Dr. So have anyone who has a Blue or Fawn that they can test join the eGroup ... at least temporarily. They can go "no mail" or "digest" and won't get cluttered with email. All the instructions will be posted there & the status of the research, so they'll want to join just to keep in the loop.
Everyone's individual vet will pack the blood and ship it individually to the Dr in Europe. This is an investment in our future, I hope it is worth the few $ we may have to extend. We are going to do fund raising to help pay for the testing & shipping for those who cannot afford to participate otherwise. Please donate as generously as you can towards the research as you can.
Normal coated dogs must be at least 2 years old. Abnormal, balding/partially balding, can be any age. It will be 100% confidential. We won't have any idea where the blood came from. I imagine the Dr will only get blood from a vet identified with balding or fully coated. I can't imagine the Dr will care who sends him what, as long as the samples are marked correctly.
Everyone will be drawing blood and shipping the blood directly to the University. Nobody will know who has sent bald dogs & who sent fully coated dogs. All we MinPinners will ever know are the static numbers ... that he received "48 balding" and "55 normal" coated samples ... something like that. We just need the participation, we don't care who has bald dogs. The bald dogs are FAR MORE IMPORTANT than the normal coated. We NEED AFFECTEDS, must have them or the study would be useless and the Dr isn't going to waste time finding funding for us. We've gotta get over our fears and embarrassments, it is killing us.
If the research is successful, we can DNA test dogs before they are bred, breed carriers to clears and NEVER see another case of CDA EVER again. Can you imagine being able to cheek swab a dog &
know if it is a carrier or clear? Holy cow! :-D This may be the best lead we've had yet!!! Isn't that just a marvelous thought!? He "might" find the markers with 20 specimens, but the more specimens we collect, the more likely they are to SEE the identifier that the bald dogs have in common.
More information will be available on the http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/OperationBluePrints/ site as the research develops and the need for the blood samples will begin.
For those who are unable to afford the testing, you don't have to "afford it" we will make sure that the costs are covered for you to participate. We will be doing fund raising as soon as we "make the numbers". Just go to the poll site and click on the appropriate responses to denote your dog(s) so that I know you are willing to participate.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/OperationBluePrints/polls
When we reach the required numbers of dogs, I will issue a "call" for everyone to start testing. When I do, you just email me PRIVATELY with your veterinarian's name, address & phone number. I will send the what ever portion of the cost that you can't afford to your vet in order to have your participation included. We appreciate any portion that you CAN afford to help with, because our funds are going to be limited I'm sure. So please don't ask for assistance unless you really need it in order to participate, but definitely ask if you are genuinely experiencing a need for assistance.
Your dog is so valuable to this research, so please don't let money be the reason that you do not participate. I will keep it confidential, so don't be embarrassed to ask ... no one will know Operation Blue Prints chipped in on your bill except me, you & your vet. I'll be only too happy that you decided to participate! :-) And ask anyone who knows me, I definitely can keep a secret.
Thank you SO MUCH for your interest and dedication to the Dilute Miniature Pinscher! :-D
-Operation Blue Prints
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