Prevalence of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in Persian and Persian-related cats in Brazil

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common genetic disease in cats. However, scarce data on its prevalence are available in Brazil. Persian cats and Persian-related breeds were assessed by molecular genotyping for a C to A transversion in exon 29 of PKD1 gene to determine ADPKD prevalence in a Brazilian population. Genomic DNA extracted from peripheral whole blood or oral swabs samples was used to amplify exon 29 of PKD1 gene employing a PCR-RFLP methodology. From a total of 616 animals, 27/537 Persian and 1/17 Himalayan cats showed the single-nucleotide variant (C to A) at position 3284 in exon 29 of feline PKD1. This pathogenic variation has been identified only in heterozygous state. The prevalence of ADPKD in Persian cats and Persian-related breeds was 5.03% and 1.6%, respectively. There was no significant association between feline breed, gender or age with ADPKD prevalence. Of note, the observed ADPKD prevalence in Persian cats and Persian-related breeds in Brazil was lower than the ones reported in other parts of the world. This finding may be related to genetic counseling and consequent selection of ADPKD-free cats for reproduction.