1. Investigación

Background: The Ibizan Hound is a canine breed native to the Mediterranean region, where leishmaniosis is an endemic zoonosis. Several studies indicate low prevalence of this disease in these dogs but the underlying molecular mechanism remains unknown. Methods: In this study, qualitative immunological and genomic profiles of this breed have been analyzed. Results: Our analysis shows relevant differences between the cytokine serum profile of Ibizan Hound dogs and previously published data from other canine strains. Additionally, several genetic risk variants related to the immune response, regulation of the immune system, and genes encoding cytokines and their receptors have been studied. The most relevant genes that presented such fixed polymorphisms were IFNG and IL6R. Other variants with frequencies ≥ 0.7 were found in the genes ARHGAP18, DAPK1, GNAI2, MITF, IL12RB1, LTBP1, SCL28A3, SCL35D2, PTPN22, CIITA, THEMIS, and CD180. Epigenetic regulatory genes such as HEY2 and L3MBTL3 showed also intronic polymorphisms. Conclusions: Our analysis and results indicate that the regulation of immune responses is different in Ibizan Hounds compared to other breeds. Future studies are needed to elucidate whether these differences are related to the low prevalence of L. infantum infection in the Ibizan Hound.

Leishmaniosis, one of themost important zoonoses in Europe, is caused by Leishmania infantum, an intracellular protozoan parasite. This disease is endemic in theMediterranean area, where the main reservoir is the dog. Several studies indicate a possible susceptibility to L. infantum infection with clinical signs in some canine breeds. One of them is the boxer breed, which shows a high prevalence of disease. In this study, immunological and genomic characterization of serum samples from boxer dogs living in theMediterranean area were evaluated to analyze the immune response and the possible genetic explanation for this susceptibility. Serum levels of cytokines IFN- , IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-18 were determined by ELISA commercial tests, while the genotyping study was performed using the CanineHD DNA Analysis BeadChip. The results show relevant differences in the serum levels of cytokines compared to published data on other canine breeds, as well as sequence changes that could explain the high susceptibility of the boxer breed to the disease. Concretely, polymorphic variants in the CIITA, HSF2BP, LTBP1,MITF, NOXA1, PKIB, RAB38, RASEF, TLE1, and TLR4 genes were found, which could explain the susceptibility of this breed to L. infantum infection.