An imminent need for veterinary medical educators: are we facing a crisis?

A potential emerging shortage of veterinary medical educators requires the profession to acknowledge and understand the factors leading to this outcome. Expanding class sizes within existing schools and colleges of veterinary medicine and the expected expansion of new programs seeking AVMA-Council of Education accreditation have heightened the need to address an impending shortage of veterinary medical educators. A solution-oriented approach that accurately projects educator workforce needs and identifies factors contributing to the shortage requires effective collaboration across various partnering organizations to develop innovations in pedagogy and educational delivery methods.

Pharmacokinetics of pimobendan after oral administration to dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Background: Pimobendan is an important therapy for dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). The pharmacokinetics are reported in healthy dogs but not in dogs with heart disease.

Hypothesis/objectives: To determine if dog characteristics such as age, breed, body condition score, ACVIM stage of heart disease or biochemical laboratory value alter the pharmacokinetics of orally administered pimobendan and its metabolite in a cohort of dogs with naturally occurring MMVD.

No impact of polymorphism in the phosphodiesterase 5A gene in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels on pimobendan-induced inhibition of platelet aggregation response.

Background: A variant in the canine phosphodiesterase (PDE) 5A gene (PDE5A:E90K) is associated with decreased concentrations of circulating cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and response to PDE5 inhibitor treatment. Pimobendan is a PDE inhibitor recommended for medical treatment of certain stages of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in dogs.

Hypothesis: PDE5A:E90K polymorphism attenuates the inhibitory effect of pimobendan on in vitro platelet aggregation and increases basal platelet aggregation in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS).

Delayed-release rapamycin halts progression of left ventricular hypertrophy in subclinical feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: results of the RAPACAT trial.

Objective: Feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) remains a disease with little therapeutic advancement. Rapamycin modulates the mTOR pathway, preventing and reversing cardiac hypertrophy in rodent disease models. Its use in human renal allograft patients is associated with reduced cardiac wall thickness.

Evaluation of autoantibodies to desmoglein-2 in dogs with and without cardiac disease.

Autoantibodies to desmoglein-2 have been associated with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) in people. ARVC is a common disease in the Boxer dog. The role of anti-desmoglein-2 antibodies in Boxers with ARVC and correlation with disease status or severity is unknown.

Myxomatous mitral valve disease in Miniature Schnauzers and Yorkshire Terriers: 134 cases (2007-2016).

Objective: To characterize features of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) in Miniature Schnauzers and Yorkshire Terriers.

Animals: 69 Miniature Schnauzers and 65 Yorkshire Terriers, each with MMVD.

Procedures: Medical record data for each dog were collected; the study period was January 2007 through December 2016.

Polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene and circulating concentrations of neurotransmitters in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Background: The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) affects valvular degeneration and dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) exhibit alterations in 5-HT signaling. In Maltese dogs, 3 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 5-HT transporter (SERT) gene are suggested to associate with MMVD.

Hypothesis/objectives: Determine the association of SERT polymorphisms on MMVD severity and serum 5-HT concentration in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (CKCS).

A defect in the NOG gene increases susceptibility to spontaneous superficial chronic corneal epithelial defects (SCCED) in boxer dogs.

Background: Superficial chronic corneal epithelial defects (SCCEDs) are spontaneous corneal defects in dogs that share many clinical and pathologic characteristics to recurrent corneal erosions (RCE) in humans. Boxer dogs are predisposed to SCCEDs, therefore a search for a genetic defect was performed to explain this susceptibility. DNA was extracted from blood collected from Boxer dogs with and without SCCEDs followed by whole genome sequencing (WGS).

Canine junctional epidermolysis bullosa due to a novel mutation in LAMA3 with severe upper respiratory involvement.

Background: Junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is a group of congenital blistering skin diseases characterized by clefting through the lamina lucida of the basement membrane zone.

Objectives: To characterize the clinical and morphological features of a congenital mechanobullous disease in a litter of puppies with severe upper respiratory involvement, and to identify an associated genetic variant.

Animals: Five of eight puppies in an Australian cattle dog cross-bred litter showed signs of skin fragility.

Use of whole genome analysis to identify shared genomic variants across breeds in canine mitral valve disease.

Familial mitral valve prolapse in human beings has been associated with several genetic variants; however, in most cases, a known variant has not been identified. Dogs also have a naturally occurring form of familial mitral valve disease (MMVD) with similarities to the human disease. A shared genetic background and clinical phenotype of this disease in some dog breeds has indicated that the disease may share a common genetic cause.

A novel missense mutation of the NAT10 gene in a juvenile Schnauzer dog with chronic respiratory tract infections.

An 18-month-old intact male Schnauzer dog was evaluated for chronic, lifelong respiratory tract infections that were unresponsive to administration of a variety of antibiotics and corticosteroids. The dog developed persistent vomiting and diarrhea around 1 year of age that was minimally responsive to diet change, antibiotics, and corticosteroids. Despite supportive care, the dog was ultimately euthanized at 20 months of age due to persistent respiratory and gastrointestinal disease.

A deleterious mutation in the ALMS1 gene in a naturally occurring model of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the Sphynx cat.

Background: Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a common inherited cardiovascular disorder in people. Many causal mutations have been identified, but about 40% of cases do not have a known causative mutation. Mutations in the ALMS1 gene are associated with the development of Alstrom syndrome, a multisystem familial disease that can include cardiomyopathy (dilated, restrictive).

Assessment of and gene variants in 48 Doberman Pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of variants in the pyruvate kinase dehydrogenase 4 () and titin () genes in a group of Doberman Pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and to determine whether there were unique clinical attributes to each variant.

Animals: 48 Doberman Pinschers with DCM.

Procedures: Doberman Pinschers with recently diagnosed DCM were identified, and genomic DNA from each was genotyped with a PCR assay for detection of and genetic variants.

Renin-angiotensin aldosterone profile before and after angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitor administration in dogs with angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism.

Background: An angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphism occurs in dogs; however, functional importance is not well studied.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that dogs with the polymorphism would show alternative renin-angiotensin aldosterone system (RAAS) pathway activation and classical RAAS pathway suppression before and after ACE-inhibitor administration, as compared to dogs without the polymorphism that would show this pattern only after ACE-inhibitor administration.

Animals: Twenty-one dogs with mitral valve disease that were genotyped for the ACE gene polymorphism.

Author Correction: Applications and efficiencies of the first cat 63 K DNA array.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

A QIL1 Variant Associated with Ventricular Arrhythmias and Sudden Cardiac Death in the Juvenile Rhodesian Ridgeback Dog.

The gene produces a component of the Mitochondrial Contact Site and Cristae Organizing System that forms and stabilizes mitochondrial cristae junctions and is important in cellular energy production. We previously reported a family of Rhodesian Ridgebacks with cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Here, we performed whole genome sequencing on a trio from the family.

The R9H phospholamban mutation is associated with highly penetrant dilated cardiomyopathy and sudden death in a spontaneous canine model.

Causative mutations for familial dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) have been identified in the phospholamban gene. There are many poorly understood aspects about familial DCM (variable penetrance, expression) which may be studied in natural animal models. We characterized genetic aspects of familial DCM in a canine model with a high incidence of sudden death.

A missense variant in the titin gene in Doberman pinscher dogs with familial dilated cardiomyopathy and sudden cardiac death.

The dog provides a large animal model of familial dilated cardiomyopathy for the study of important aspects of this common familial cardiovascular disease. We have previously demonstrated a form of canine dilated cardiomyopathy in the Doberman pinscher breed that is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait and is associated with a splice site variant in the pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4) gene, however, genetic heterogeneity exists in this species as well and not all affected dogs have the PDK4 variant. Whole genome sequencing of a family of Doberman pinchers with dilated cardiomyopathy and sudden cardiac death without the PDK4 variant was performed.

Author Correction: Applications and efficiencies of the first cat 63K DNA array.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Applications and efficiencies of the first cat 63K DNA array.

The development of high throughput SNP genotyping technologies has improved the genetic dissection of simple and complex traits in many species including cats. The properties of feline 62,897 SNPs Illumina Infinium iSelect DNA array are described using a dataset of over 2,000 feline samples, the most extensive to date, representing 41 cat breeds, a random bred population, and four wild felid species. Accuracy and efficiency of the array's genotypes and its utility in performing population-based analyses were evaluated.

Preliminary Assessment of a Novel 14-Day Electrocardiographic Adhesive Patch Monitor in Dogs.

Cardiac arrhythmias often are transient and might not be detected using conventional electrocardiographic (ECG) techniques. The adhesive patch monitor (APM) is a single-lead, lightweight, up to 14-day continuous ambulatory ECG monitor. This study aimed to prospectively assess its usability in four boxer dogs considered either to be healthy or to have arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

A de novo mutation in the EXT2 gene associated with osteochondromatosis in a litter of American Staffordshire Terriers.

Background: We aimed to identify mutations associated with osteochondromatosis in a litter of American Staffordshire Terrier puppies.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the associated mutation would be located in a gene that causes osteochondromatosis in humans.

Animals: A litter of 9 American Staffordshire puppies, their sire and dam, 3 of 4 grandparents, 26 healthy unrelated American Staffordshire Terriers, and 154 dogs of 27 different breeds.

Deafness and vestibular dysfunction in a Doberman Pinscher puppy associated with a mutation in the PTPRQ gene.

Background: A congenital syndrome of hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction affects Doberman Pinschers. Its inheritance pattern is suspected to be autosomal recessive and it potentially represents a spontaneous animal model of an autosomal recessive syndromic hearing loss.

Hypothesis/objectives: The objectives of this study were to use whole genome sequencing (WGS) to identify deleterious genetic variants in candidate genes associated with the syndrome and to study the prevalence of candidate variants among a population of unaffected Doberman Pinschers.

Angiotensin-converting enzyme activity in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels with an ACE gene polymorphism and myxomatous mitral valve disease.

Objectives: Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most common heart disease in the dog. It is particularly common in the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCS) breed and affected dogs are frequently managed with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I). We have previously identified a canine ACE gene polymorphism associated with a decrease in angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity.