Leonberger Polyneuropathy Type 2
Leonberger dogs may suffer from neuromuscular disease collectively termed Leonberger Polyneuropathy (LPN). LPN affected dogs suffers from slowly worsening exercise intolerance and may develop gait abnormalities, such as an exaggerated hitched step, especially in the hind limbs. There is often wasting of the hind limb muscles as well. Additionally, these dogs may have noisy breathing, a change in their bark, or even difficulty breathing due to involvement of the larynx and laryngeal folds in the throat. Eventually the disease may progress to the point where the dog cannot support its own weight. Biopsies of nerve from affected dogs show degradation of the nerve fibers and loss of myelin, the insulating material that normally helps speed messages along nerves. Muscle biopsies show atrophy resulting from nerve loss.
LPN2 heterozygous and homozygous dogs may begin to show signs of disease as young as age 1, but may not show signs of disease until later in life or never at all
Gene Tested : GJA9 c.1107_1108delAG
Possible Test Results :
- Clear
- Single Carrier - At Risk
- Double Carrier - At Risk
- Hereditary Clear
- Hereditary Single Carrier - At Risk
- Hereditary Double Carrier - At Risk
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