Page 30 - Copper-associated hepatitis in the Labrador retriever diagnosis, treatment and genetics

Chapter 1
needs to be made. Functional studies to test the implications of mutations are indispensable and cohorts of human patients will need to be tested for involvement of the new genes. Therefore a good collaboration between canine and human research groups is of utmost importance.
Concluding remarks
The discovery of the COMMD1 gene, through genetic studies in Bedlington terrier copper toxicosis has led to a great gain of knowledge into the regulation of mammalian copper metabolism. However, several questions with respect to the etiology of copper toxicosis in both man and dogs remain to be elucidated. The treasury of purebred dog populations for genetic studies is expected to reveal many new details of copper homeostasis in the coming years and will be beneficial to both man and dog.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Bart van de Sluis for critically reading of the manuscript and providing useful comments and Dr. Guy Grinwis for assistance with Figure 2. We thank Waltham centre for pet nutrition and LUPA for financial support of the studies into copper toxicosis in dogs that were performed at Utrecht University.
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