An investigation into a viral cause of chronic hepatitis. (360G-Wellcome-088619_Z_09_Z)

Chronic hepatitis (CH) in canines is frequently diagnosed and usually idiopathic although histological and clinical features are classical for a viral aetiology. Breed predilections indicate a genetic predisposition to disease, and some breeds show a particularly severe form of CH. CH in humans has multiple defined aetiologies (most commonly viral). Some idiopathic cases remain for which one or more novel viral agents are suspected. Histopathological lesions between a subset of these human cases an d idiopathic canine CH are strikingly similar. Hypothesising that canine CH is of viral aetiology, the key goals of the project are: 1. To identify a virus causing CH. 2. Investigate the MHC haplotypes. I will use state of the art PCR and high-throughput sequencing techniques to identify viruses present in severely affected tissues. Using serological techniques and specific PCR assays I will determine the correlation of infection and disease. Pedigree analysis and MHC haplotyping will be used to investigate the genetic correlates of disease susceptibility and severity.