Dr. Meurs Test for DCM gene - what does it mean?

[Elaine]

Last evening Arthur and I got the test results for the 5 dogs we have tested with Dr Meurs / WSU so far. If you own a dog from us, we emailed you this information last night. We have said all along that we would test and that we would publish our results. For many of you this may mean very little, we simply want you all to be informed with what we know, when we know it.

Logres' Brentina is positive hetro
Logres' Matiné is positive hetro

Logres' DiMaggio is positive homo
Divine's Lady Claire v Logres is positive homo

Logres' ButterFly Flip is negative.

We also know that Logres' Halla is positive hetro.

We suspect that Trotyl is negative.

We will test the rest of our dogs in a week or so.

Also, Arthur asked that I include this caveat. “This test is completely worthless if Patience Sassone’s post to the DPCA members list is true.”

Patience post says that she knows of two litters:

One is a litter of six puppies, the parents are both negative, the litter is all positive, 3 heterozygous positive and 3 positive homozygous.

The other was a litter of seven that are 10 years old. Six of these have been diagnosed with DCM. Of those six, four have tested negative. Their sire died of DCM and both grand sires on the dam and the sire's sides of the pedigree also died of DCM.

Members are not allowed to copy a post from the DPCA list, so you will have to ask Patience directly for whatever info she has to back up the post.

[Elaine]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: 5 test results
From: [omitted].com
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:02:43 -0600
To: logresfarm@hotmail.com


Hi Elaine,
What does all of this mean? Do we need to do something for [omitted]?

[Elaine]

Good Morning [edited],

Hope all is well

We included you in the loop as a courtesy. Given that [edited] was spayed before ever producing a litter, this test is largely irrelevant to you. Based upon the results we have there is nothing you can/should do at this time. Given the problems and limitations with the test itself, we really do not know one thing more today about [edited] than we knew yesterday, which is to say, she is a Doberman and she may or may not develop DCM at some point in her life. There is currently no research focused on diet and other epigenetic factors that might be of use to you. If we run across any, we will forward it to you. If you sense that I have a bit of scorn for veterinary medicine and how research dollars are spent, your perception would be accurate.

By way of background, like all living creatures - Dobermans have certain health issues, one of which is dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). As you may know, breeders would love to produce a genetically perfect animal, as much as I suppose one could say that we, as a species, would probably like to have a genetically perfect human being. Our desire to produce perfection makes us easy prey for research institutions.

In October of 2010 we received an email claiming that Dr. Meurs of Washington State University had identified a genetic marker for DCM, with the bold implication that we could now eliminate this one health problem from the breed. Dr. Meurs gave a presentation of her findings at the Doberman National in October. Arthur and I had reservations but went forward and had our dogs tested. We sent you copies of the results for your information. We are not suggesting that you test [edited], we are not clear that there is any value at all to the test, especially if you are not breeding. That said, at this point, until we know more, we will not breed DiMaggio and we will not breed Claire again.

As of 2010, it is simply not possible to produce genetic perfection. As of November 11, 2010 we can not say one way or another if Dr. Meurs test was a step forward or not.

What I can say with certainty is that breeders are easy prey for researchers looking for notoriety and career advancement, and looking to make a buck. There are problems with Dr. Meurs test. Arthur and I and others feel that it should have been published and peer reviewed… there are problems with methodology… at this point we did the test, but we can not say whether it was of any value at all.

Veterinary science creeps along at an agonizingly slow pace. From time to time we get bold announcements of advancements, but never the published peer reviewed references to review. Sometimes these claimed advancements are as advertised, sometimes they are not.

We will go forward cautiously, keeping you informed as we go. I am including in blue below an email Arthur sent that conveys his personal thoughts, just so you have an idea of how this impacts us, from the perspective of a loving dog owner and a breeder who is also a medical doctor.



I like what you said. I am really bothered by all this. I too think DiMaggio is a spectacular dog. I look at Warkant and think he is the best Doberman I have ever laid my hands on. He is my buddy! I refuse to allow this test to cloud my feelings for him. He is the most phenomenal dog in the world and a sire that has produced unbelievable dogs. The temperament of DiMaggio and Diarado epitomize what today’s Doberman should be. They are strong confident dogs that have no fear, are kind, inquisitive, and loyal. This genetic marker is not ready for prime time. The evidence behind this test would never support human testing. If what Sassone says is true, this could all blow up in WSU and Meurs's face. She could potentially be destroying powerful kennels with some ill-researched test. The wording of what the test results mean may not be enough to protect WSU from a Class Action Lawsuit if this does blow up. From only our test results, there seems to be no contradiction. All the tests add up, but I still don't know what it means. http://logresfarm.com/ http://dogshownewsnetwork.com/

[Elaine]

We also got the generally great responses we always get from the wonderful people who own our dogs. If they are breeders they say, "we’re in the process of testing and will let you know the results when available." But here below is a response that mirrors what we are hearing elsewhere. I think we need to take a good long look at this.

Thanks for the info Elaine.

For what it is worth, I am hearing a lot of the exact same thing from other Dobe people/breeders and most especially from the Boxer people who have been using it for sometime now. They are saying negative dogs are being diagnosed at 3.4-10 and dropping dead of DCM.

There in is our concern. The reality that it is accurate is slim to none at this point. But you know as well as I, we all are pretty much under the microscope and expected to do it.
I still believe the moderate approach will win the race.

We will be testing our dogs also. When we do and the results are in, we will share the info with you.

Hope all is well......

[Elaine]

Thank you for the information. Please let us know if you learn anything that would be helpful to us. [omitted] is very special to me and there is very little I wouldn’t do for her.

I think I know how you and Dr. Greenwood feel about your animals and your breeding program. I’m sure all of this must be very troubling to you. For what it’s worth, I am in a position to confirm Dr. Greenwood’s opinions about the extraordinary Dobermans you are breeding. I assure you there is something very special about [omitted]. She possesses all of the qualities described by Dr. Greenwood and then some. I wouldn’t take $1,000,000 for her.
Thanks,
[omitted]