Screening and Carrier Rate of Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis in Chihuahua Dogs in Japan

Simple Summary Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) is a rare group of lethal neurodegenerative lysosomal storage diseases, in which a homozygous single base-pair deletion (c.846delT) in the canine CLN7/MFSD8 gene has been identified as a causative mutation in Chihuahuas. In this study, we aimed to determine the carrier rate of NCL in Chihuahuas in Japan based on the screening of puppies using a newly designed real-time PCR assay. A survey conducted among 1007 Chihuahua puppies indicated that the carrier rate was 1.29%. Given the lethality of this disease, the mutant allele frequency (0.00645) is sufficiently high to warrant measures for disease control and prevention using the genotyping assay. Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) is a group of rare lethal neurodegenerative lysosomal storage diseases that occur in a range of dog breeds, including Chihuahuas. Recently, a homozygous single base-pair deletion (c.846delT), which causes a frame shift generating a premature stop codon (p.Phe282Leufs13*) in the canine CLN7/MFSD8 gene, has been identified as a causative mutation for NCL in Chihuahuas. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of the mutant allele and/or carrier rate of NCL in Chihuahuas in Japan using a newly designed real-time PCR assay. Samples of saliva were randomly collected from 1007 Chihuahua puppies during physical examinations prior to the transportation to pet shops. Screening results revealed a carrier rate of 1.29%, indicating a mutant allele frequency (0.00645) that is considered sufficiently high to warrant measures for the control and prevention of this lethal disease. The genotyping assay designed in this study could make a valuable contribution to the control and prevention of NCL.