Abstract
Canine elbow dysplasia is a significant health issue affecting many breeds. Unfortunately, treatments remain relatively limited, so control of this disease often falls to selectively breeding for dogs with normal elbows. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the heritability of left-sided vs. right-sided elbow dysplasia, and to assess potential differential sire and the dam influence on offspring elbow status. In a retrospective study, elbow data from 130,117 dogs over 2 years old representing 17 breeds were obtained from the database of the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and included in the study. Heritability estimates for unilateral elbow dysplasia varied between breeds (ranging from 0.01 to 0.36) and were similar between the left and right elbows. The estimated genetic correlation between disease in the left and right elbow ~1 in the majority of breeds, with the exception of the hybrids, Australian Shepherds, and the Australian Cattle Dogs, likely due to low numbers of affected individuals. The sire and dam had equal impact on the offspring's elbow status. Furthermore, there was no increased risk for the sire or dam to pass on the same unilaterality of their elbow dysplasia to their offspring. However, the overall risk of elbow dysplasia in the offspring did increase when one or both parents were affected, though this also varied based on breed. Understanding of the impact that the sire and dam have on the offspring and of the overall heritability of both bilateral and unilateral elbow dysplasia is important in guiding breeding decisions to reduce the incidence in future generations of dogs.
Highlights
A prevalent health issue that affects many breeds, young medium to large sized dogs, is that of elbow dysplasia [1]
Data collected from 1970 through November 2018 on 17 breeds of dogs older than 2 years of age were obtained retrospectively from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) database, and included dogs whose results were within the public domain and those whose results were withheld from public posting
Breeds having more than 380 elbow dysplasia submissions were used in the analyses
Summary
A prevalent health issue that affects many breeds, young medium to large sized dogs, is that of elbow dysplasia [1]. Elbow dysplasia refers to the abnormal development of the elbow joint, resulting in early development of osteoarthritis and degenerative changes. Complex primary conditions associated with elbow dysplasia include fragmented medial coronoid (FCP), ununited anconeal process (UAP), osteochondrosis dessecans (OCD), and joint incongruency [1]. Surgery may be recommended for certain cases [2], but at this time the osteoarthritis and degenerative changes can only be treated with nutritional and medical management [3, 4], including maintaining a lean body weight, regular slow steady exercise as tolerated, physical rehabilitation, joint supplements, intra-articular injections, or oral medications to improve comfort [5].
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