• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.313-315
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• 2014

A 13-month old, intact female, miniature Schnauzer dog was presented with history of dermatitis, pruritus and pain of ear pinnae with delayed puberty. The basal serum growth hormone level was 0.01 ng/ml, which was much lower than the reference range (1.80-2.00 ng/ml). On the xylazine stimulation test, the dog was no responsive to administration of xylazine. The dog was diagnosed as isolated type pituitary dwarfism. Treatment was aimed to improve alopecia with oral melatonin. After initiation of treatment, alopecia of the ear pinnae has been improved.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.310-314
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• 2011

The Banna miniature pig (BNMP) is a representative miniature pig breed in China. Even though BNMP dwarfism is obvious, its underlying causative mutations remain unknown. In this study, the BNMP and Large White pig (LWP) serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) levels were detected by ELISA and compared. BNMP serum IGF-1 levels were significantly lower than LWP levels (P<0.05). The miniature condition may arise from mutations in the GH and GH receptor (GHR) genes. Therefore, GH and GHR cDNA from the BNMP were cloned into a pMD18-T vector by RT-PCR using the total RNA obtained from the BNMP's pituitary and liver tissues. Sequencing results indicated that the open reading frame of the BNMP GH gene is composed of a 26-residue signal peptide and a 191-residue mature peptide. The coding sequence of the BNMP GHR gene contained 639 amino acids, including a signal peptide that is 18 amino acids long. Two amino acid substitutions, A09V and R22Q, were found in the signal peptide of the GH gene. Additionally, the S104P mutation was found in the BNMP's mature GH protein. Four mutations in the cytoplasmic domain of GHR may influence the downstream signal transduction of GHR, which needs further experimental evidence.