Laboratory indicators of hypothyroidism and TgAA-positivity in the Eurasian dog breed

by Martina Schlipf, Andrea Fischer, Martina Patzl, Katrin Hartmann, Alexander Pankraz, Martina Dick, Yury Zablotski, Helmut Küchenhoff, Astrid Wehner

Hereditary hypothyroidism represents a concern for dog breeders; thus, surveillance programs have been established for several dog breeds.

Thyroid profiles (total thyroxine (TT4), thyrotropin (thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)), and thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAA)) collected as part of a breed surveillance program in Eurasians (2009–2017) were retrospectively analyzed. The study included data from 1,501 Eurasians from a German breeding club. Classification was exclusively based on laboratory data. Hypothyroidism was defined as a combined decrease in TT4 and increase in TSH in serum and was classified as TgAA-positive and TgAA-negative hypothyroidism. Thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAA) independent of the concentrations of TT4 and TSH were determined. The overall prevalence of hypothyroidism, TgAA-positive hypothyroidism, TgAA-negative hypothyroidism and TgAA-positivity was assessed when the dogs entered the program. Follow-up laboratory data was available for 324 dogs without hypothyroidism on initial examination.

The initial screening was performed at a median age of 18 months (interquartile range (IQR): 15–29). The overall prevalence of hypothyroidism was 3.9% (n = 58; 95% CI: 2.9–4.8%) and the prevalence of a positive TgAA status was 7.9% (n = 118; 95% CI: 6.6–9.3%). The prevalence of TgAA-positive and TgAA-negative hypothyroidism was 1.7% (n = 26; 95% CI: 1.1–2.4%) and 2.1% (n = 32; 95% CI: 1.4–2.9%), respectively. 22.0% of dogs with positive TgAA status (26/118) were already hypothyroid on initial examination. Overall, 42.5% (17/40) of TgAA-positive dogs on initial examination developed hypothyroidism on follow-up.

The results of this study demonstrate that the Eurasian dog breed exhibits a relevant risk for hypothyroidism and presence of TgAA. The predictive value of TgAA for hypothyroidism or developing hypothyroidism was high in this breed. Further investigations with longitudinal studies in individual dogs are warranted.