Hereditary Cataracts (Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Type)

Affected Genes: FYCO1
Inheritance: Autosomal Recessive
Mutation: chr20:42952995 (canFam4): G/-
Breed(s): Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

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Common Symptoms

Hereditary Cataracts (Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Type) is an inherited eye disease in dogs. Cataracts are opacities in the lens of the eye caused by structural changes in lens proteins. A normal lens allows light to pass through to the Retina in the back of the eye. Light cannot pass through the parts of the lens affected by cataracts and vision becomes blurry. Affected dogs most commonly present within a few weeks to months after birth with small cataracts that are visible during a veterinary eye exam. These may become progressively larger as the dog ages and visual deficits may develop; however, it is unknown if other genetic and environmental factors contribute to this. Of note, not all forms of cataracts are inherited and environmental factors such as UV damage can also play a role in the severity of disease.

Testing Tips

Genetic testing of the FYCO1 gene will reliably determine whether a dog is a genetic Carrier of Hereditary Cataracts (Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Type). This disease is inherited in an Autosomal Recessive manner in dogs meaning that they must receive two copies of the mutated gene (one from each parent) to develop the disease. In general, carrier dogs do not have features of the disease but when bred with another carrier of the same Mutation, there is a risk of having affected pups. Each pup that is born to this pairing has a 25% chance of inheriting the disease and a 50% chance of inheriting one copy and being a carrier of the FYCO1 gene mutation. Reliable genetic testing is important for determining breeding practices. In order to eliminate this mutation from breeding lines and to avoid the potential of producing affected pups, breeding of known carriers to each other is not recommended. Dogs that are not carriers of the mutation have no increased risk of having affected pups.

There may be other causes of this condition in dogs and a normal result does not exclude a different mutation in this gene or any other gene that may result in a similar genetic disease or trait.

References

  • Rudd Garces G, Christen M, Loechel R, Jagannathan V, Leeb T. FYCO1 Frameshift Deletion in Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Dogs with Juvenile Cataract. Genes (Basel). 2022 Feb 11;13(2):334. [PubMed: 35205377]