RESF1 gene linked to Addison's disease in dogs
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- Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers have an unusually high rate of Addison's disease, with affected dogs typically developing the condition at a young age in what appears to be an inherited pattern.
- Researchers identified a gene variant called RESF1 strongly associated with Addison's disease in tollers, publishing the findings in the journal Scientific Reports.
- The RESF1 gene is very similar across other species, including humans, but had not previously been linked to Addison's disease in people — making it a candidate gene for future human research.
- Dogs with juvenile-onset Addison's disease typically die within two years, even with treatment, underscoring the severity of the condition in affected tollers.
- A genetic test is available through the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory to help breeders avoid producing affected dogs.
- The research team was led by Professor Danika Bannasch, Maxine Adler Endowed Chair of Genetics at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, with graduate students Emily Brown and Scarlett Varney and international colleagues.
- Tollers could serve as a natural model for multiple autoimmune syndrome, the condition in which Addison's disease occurs alongside other autoimmune diseases, potentially offering insights for both veterinary and human medicine.
Why it matters: Juvenile-onset Addison's disease kills affected tollers within two years, so a genetic test already offered through UC Davis gives breeders a concrete tool to reduce cases now. The bigger long-term payoff: because RESF1 is conserved across species but never before studied in human Addison's, it opens a fresh line of human genetic inquiry into a disease where autoimmune mechanisms remain incompletely understood.
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