Dissertation: New insights into the genetic and functional aspects of congenital portosystemic shunts in dogs

A portosystemic shunt is an abnormal blood vessel that connects the portal vein to the inferior vena cava, which runs to the heart. In this condition, the blood bypasses the liver, so it cannot be cleared of toxins. This has serious consequences for the animal, which eventually begins to poison itself. Without surgical intervention the animal has only a small chance of survival. The condition occurs in a number of dog breeds.

PhD Candidate Lindsay van den Bossche’s research focused mainly on obtaining insight into how the various types of portosystemic shunts occur in dogs. To that end, she examined the prevalence of different types of liver shunts in the Dutch dog population, and conducted a gene expression study in order to trace the genes that cause the disease. She also researched a phenomenon that occurs in many dogs suffering from shunts; the accumulation of fat in the liver. Her studies showed that fat accumulation is a result of the altered metabolism and changing blood supply to the liver. Finally, the development of a predictive model helped advance the treatment of the condition by determining the likelihood of success of surgery to close shunts in dogs.

The fact that there are many similarities between the condition in dogs and in humans, and that congenital shunts are more common in dogs, makes the dog a useful model for studying this and other genetic diseases. The new information gained about portosystemic shunts will therefore not only help to understand the disease in dogs, but will also contribute to advances in human medicine.