Differences of progressive retinal atrophy in dogs

Abstract: A group of diseases that affect the dog’s sight is progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) a disease that means that the photoreceptors in the retina of the eye either not develop normally or undergo degeneration and thereby causes vision loss and blindness. The disease affects many different breeds and is inherited. What have been shown is that it is different genes that had become mutated in the different breeds, this conclude that despite similar clinical symptoms, the underlying reason could be different. Also the genes that are mutated in dogs and give rise to diseases also exists in humans. In humans there is a big group of diseases that goes under the name Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and it is equivalent to PRA. This is a review of the progression of the disease in both humans and dogs and also a comparison of the mutations that causes the diseases in dogs.