Staffordshire Terrier Club of America - News

Optigen is now acting as an agent for the French company Antagene. They are accepting and processing DNA samples for the cerebellar ataxia test in Am Staffs and sending them to the Antagene lab in France for testing. At this time, it is unknown if the test will be conducted here in the US in the future. The arrangement Antagene has with Optigen mandates that all US samples go through Optigen. Antagene will no longer acccept US samples sent directly to France. To receive a 20% discount on the test, DNA cheek swabs can be obtained by bringing your AmStaff to any all breed Optigen DNA collection clinic. For an additional 5% discount, you may apply for the test on line. Visit the Optigen website www.optigen.com for a list of upcoming clinics and applications.

Faith Beiser

New Update on Genetic Test for Cerebellar Ataxia in American Staffordshire Terriers

I do have some more information I can share with you all about this test. The burning questions people are asking are “How good is the test?” and “Will it become available in the US?”

Taking the first question first - How good is the test? Scientific work is evaluated when data is submitted in a manuscript for publication by a journal. Following submission, the journal editors send the manuscript to external reviewers who read it and give their opinion on its value. The editors’ decision on whether to publish the work is based on these reviews and once published, of course everyone can read it and judge for themselves. This has not yet taken place for this work but will in the near future. Until that time the French group have asked me not to reveal specifics of the research, and it is fair to say that the external review process has not yet occurred. However, there are a few things I can say. Firstly, working independently, both my group and the French group identified the same chromosomal region, and narrowed the disease down to the same handful of genes. It seems unlikely that two separate research groups would reach that same point if the research was incorrect. Secondly, the data they have shared with me suggests the test is very sensitive and specific.

The second question is very pertinent to you all - (Will a test become available in the US?) and the answer to that question is yes, it is possible that the test will become available right here in the US. When I get more specific information on this I will pass it on. In the meantime, be aware that Labrador breeders use the same lab, Antagene, to test for a myopathy (the mutation was identified in France) with no problems.

Natasha Olby

Update on Genetic Test for Cerebellar Ataxia in American Staffordshire Terriers

Exciting news! Antagene has announced that there is now a genetic test available to detect affected dogs and carriers of cerebellar ataxia in American Staffordshire terriers. A group in France led by Dr. Marie Abitbol has developed this test and I started working with them recently when we both realized we were looking at the same chromosomal region for the underlying problem. We have shared DNA samples, and we do know the American dogs have the same genetic marker of the disease as the French dogs. We don’t know how reliable this test is yet because it is very new and this type of specific information has not been made available. We do know that dogs with the genetic mutation can exhibit very different severities of signs with onset at very different ages. As we get more information on this, we will be sure to share it with you all so keep watching the website for updates. For now, you can go to the website below to find information on the test. This text is in French and it is a news release by the company on the test.

Information about the test.

If you go to http://www.antagene.com you will reach the main web page of the company and you can click on a link at the top of the page for English. You can navigate through their pages and see for example how a sample is submitted for the other diseases they test for. The test is not yet listed as being available under the English subheading. Again I would note that this is a very recent development and we will continue to post new information as it becomes available. Keep watching the health web page because we will post all updates there.

Thank you to everyone for your support of my work on this devastating disease. I am so glad that we may now have a test that will help the breed to eliminate this problem from these fine dogs.

Natasha Olby