Exercise Induced Collapse

I have been asked by a breed health co-ordinator for the Kennel Club to help raise awareness of a disease called Exercise Induced Collapse that has been detected in British Labradors and that has the potential to become a serious problem in this country.

You can read my article on the Gundog Club website http://www.thegundogclub.co.uk/library/exercise_induced_collapse.php

I appreciate that labrador breeders can feel overwhelmed by the number of tests that are increasingly being developed and that not everyone is happy with this new test.

Please feel free to comment in this thread.

Pippa

 

Re: Exercise Induced Collapse

I would like to congratulate you, Pippa, on this excellent article. It is great to see awareness of EIC being raised - despite so many breeders burying their heads in the sand over the issue.

EIC testing is now recommended by the Breed Council, and I feel sure that the time is not far away when clearances for the condition will be listed on the KC website.

 

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I was pleased to be able to help Pippa with this article in an effort to raise the profile of EIC in this country.

My dogs have been EIC tested and I hope more people will read the article and test there dogs.

 

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Perhaps I should add that mine has also been tested and he is an EIC carrier.

 

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Thanks guys for your comments and help

I know that some breeders are very concerned that the public won't want to buy carrier pups, even though these pups will not suffer from EIC. I think it would be good to think of some ways to allay people's concerns on that score. It is a difficult one, but they seem to be managing it in some countries.

Pippa

 

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They certainly seem to be coping with this in most of Europe, and the US where EIC is now generally accepted as "a part of labrador life" - an issue which needs to be got around, and which can be dealt with, as other conditions have been.

Recent stats from the Uni of Minnesota (where the condition was researched and the tested developed) show

Labradors (all tested, research and VDL
Clear - 9637, 54%
Carrier - 6588, 36.9%
Affected - 1627, 9.1%
Total - 17852

 

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Thats interesting, thanks Paddy

 

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Hi, thankyou for the info regarding EIC, written in plain English. I'm sure more people will understand it better now and hopefully go ahead and get testing.

 

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Thank you Staeningas for your kind comments, and welcome to The Labrador Site

Pippa

 

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Pippa - read the article via a link from the gundog club and am curious for a bit more info - I understand EIC is due to an autosomal recessive mutation, the gene is identified, but what actually causes the collapse?

Does this mutation lead to exercise induced abnormalities in heart rythm, similar to sudden death/collapse sometimes seen in human athletes?

 

Re: Exercise Induced Collapse

Hi there and welcome to the forum

According to the University of Minnesota website, it is very likely that the DNM1 gene causes a defect in nerve communication during intense exercise.


The DNM1 gene is responsible for the production of a protein called dynamin-1. This protein is involved in neurotransmission, specifically synaptic transmission
The synapse is the gap between the end of one nerve and the beginning of another, special chemicals are required to ‘bridge’ that gap and enable transmission to take place from nerve to nerve along the body.

It seems that dynamin-1 is not required at low levels of neurological stimulation as when the dog is calm, cool and relaxed. But the when there is a heavy load on the central nervous system, then dynamin-1 is required to sustain synaptic transmission. Without it, the signal cannot make the ‘jump’ across the gap.

This extra load on the central nervous system occurs when the dog engages in high intensity activities, or becomes over heated, or overexcited, both factors which are believed to exacerbate the condition.

I would assume that the hind end of the dog is affected first because this is the greatest distance for the nerve signals to travel, but the literature does not state this specifically so please don’t quote me on that!

Because of the other factors, excitement etc, you can see why EIC is not a straightforward condition and why collapsing events may vary from dog to dog and from one occasion to another.

I don’t think so. Heart arrhythmias are not mentioned in the literature I have found, and it seems that the defect acts specifically on the muscles in the hindquarters. Dogs often continue to attempt to run/crawl with their front legs and sometimes initially may seem unaware that their rear end is not working properly. Most remain conscious and alert throughout.

Sorry if that is not terribly clear. There is only a limited amount of information that I have been able to find. Work on the condition is ongoing and it may be that more information will be available soon.

Pippa

 

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I'm not sure whether I should add it here or elsewhere (feel free to move it Pippa) but I am happy to report that Spice had her litter in the early hours of Tuesday morning 14th June. Nine pups in all 5 bitches and 4 dogs.

The Carrier x Clear status does not seem to have had any affect on puppy sales (nor should it as people know exactly what they are getting with no fear of an affected pup. Whereas when you are buying from untested dogs you have no idea whether you have clear, carrier or affected). Although they have only been born a few days all the bitch pups are sold and 1 dog pup, so there are just three dog pups to find homes. One of the bitch pups is, of course, staying with me ;D.

I tried to add some photos but failed miserably so I will email them to Pippa and hopefully she will put them up for me!

 

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Thanks for sharing the lovely photos Jill, I will put them up in the Labrador Chat section.

I hope your story will give more breeders the confidence to test for, and help eliminate, this disease.

Pippa

 

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Sorry Sam I've only just seen your question.

There was a post on another forum by a very well known Labrador Breeder in this country saying that she had tested her dogs and many came back as Carriers (in a nutshell).

She named a dog in that thread which is Spice's great grandfather so I decided I had no alternative but to test. I did, in fact test all my dogs and Spice's mum is clear, however I have since heard that Spice's father came back a Carrier too.

The news broke on EIC when Spice was about 12 months old I think, so as far as I was aware up to that stage I had a bitch with clear health tests for PRA and CNM. EIC coming to the fore was a bit of a curve ball!

 

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There have been a few posts on other forums about labradors collapsing now, but actually showing that the majority of vets know nothing at all about this problem, or even know of its existence.

So, my question is, how do we go about raising the awareness of EIC amongst vets, so they don't go down the pointless xraying, epilepsy etc. routes costing people a fortune, when, in fact, all they need to do is a simple DNA test for EIC??

 

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Hi Jill

I would have thought that the majority UK vets would at least be aware of the existence of EIC, though I could well be wrong. I guess when vets do not often see an affected dog, it is not something that they initially consider when forming a diagnosis?

The GC has a quite a lot of vets on its mailing list and hopefully these will have read our EIC article, but they are only a small proportion of the all vets practising in the UK at present. The best way to contact them all would be through the BVA.

I am sure there is more we could do to raise awareness amongst vets in general. It would be interesting to have some input from the BVA or at least from a practising vet, I will see if I can get one to give us their viewpoint.

Of course it may well be that the BVA are already producing or have already produced literature for distribution on this subject, though EIC is not featured on the public areas of their website yet

The BVA publish a journal for vets called “In Practice” and the most recent reference to EIC in that is from 2005 which is worrying as the EIC gene discovery results were not published til 2008. However, it is possible I am not searching the website effectively.
There is another journal, the “Veterinary Record” and I could find no mention of either EIC or Exercise Induced Collapse at all. Not sure what to make of that really.

Pippa

 

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Regarding your points on the need to raise awareness of EIC among vets - I have researched the condition for a number of years and have had contact with a number of breeders in the US.

Well over three years ago I contacted the British Veterinary Association regarding EIC, and asking if it would be possible to raise awareness of the condition among vets. The response was that they had not heard of EIC! They said that they could only suggest I contacted the KC's genetics advisor, whom I had already written to. He did ring me and we had a short chat during which he said he would be looking into the issue. At the same time I emailed a member of the Breed Council, asking for involvement in raising awareness of EIC. Other than an acknowledgement of my email I heard nothing further. In July 2008 I again contacted the genetics advisor to inform him that the DNA test had become commercially available - he responded saying that he would progress the matter with the Breed Council. I heard nothing further.
Feedback I get suggests that there are still very few vets who have even heard of EIC - let alone know that a test is available.

Of course the problem obviously was that I am a one pet-dog owner - so me saying that EIC is a time-bomb ticking away was not taken seriously. It wasn't until the well-known breeder mentioned by Jill, announced that she had carriers in her lines that anyone showed interest. I congratulate that breeder for her integrity, and also people like Jill (there aren't many of them) who have tested, and also published results. This well-known breeder did actually test one of her dogs because she wanted to use an EIC carrier from Europe in her breeding programme, and was stunned to find EIC in her kennel. She has since taken things forward with the Breed Council and as a result EIC testing is now recommended by them.

Many times I have been virtually shot down in flames by some breeders on another forum for trying to encourage EIC testing - even though the same people are quite happy to test for virtually everything else.

In most other countries EIC is well recognised by vets and testing has become routine among breeders.

We need to continue to encourage breeders to use the knowledge and facilities available and also to reach vets in general practice - so that the condition can be recognised and managed.

 

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Hi Labrador Folk!

I was asked for my comment on this thread as a vet....so here I am!

I'm afraid I think it is up to breed clubs, breeders and owners to be aware of diseases affecting their breeds and to spread the word through other owners and to their vets. I'm pretty 'well up' on my dog diseases....at least where the gundog breeds are concerned. But ask me what health issues are currently worrying the Maltese fraternity and I'm going to look blank!!!! The amount of work being done on diseases with possible hereditary components is astronomical. Even if I read all the veterinary magazines I don't think I could keep on top of it all. The KC is trying to help, but even though I got their giant tome on dog health in April it was already out of date with more tests being recommended for my own breed (ESS) than the KC book suggested.

How can you spread the news? Obviously forums; both the more specialist like this and the more general dog owner ones. Write to dog magazines; 'Your Dog' graces most vets waiting rooms so maybe the vets will read it too? Breed club websites must make themselves a one-stop-shop for info on a breed even for those not interested in showing, breeding, working or even having a KC regisered example. And breeders; put this info in your puppy packs. Talk about health and disease. EIC is curently much less of an issue than CNM so not all breeders ill choose to test for it- but at least explain to your buyers what it is.