Autosomal recessive inheritance of cutaneous asthenia in a dog - case report

Cutaneous asthenia (CA) or Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, in dogs, is a rare hereditary syndrome caused by autosomal dominant inheritance that causes collagen synthesis failure and leads to hyperextensibility and cutaneous fragility. This report describes a clinical case of canine CA of hereditary recessive origin, hitherto proven for other species, in an animal born from inbreeding healthy parents. A one-year-old female Maltese dog received clinical and surgical care for a cutaneous wound after a hygienic bath. The clinical history revealed the occurrence of other injuries that were caused by minor trauma and the consanguinity of the patient. During wound cleaning, the trichotomy and removal of an adhesive tape that was fixed to the skin generated new lacerations, which led to clinical suspicion of CA. CA was confirmed by calculating the cutaneous extensibility index (CEI), which was 22%, higher than the normal limit for the species (14.5%). The skin biopsy confirmed the clinical diagnosis, and the wound of the animal was treated routinely and healed clinically. Both dominant and recessive patterns have been well documented in cats; however, in dogs, only the dominant form has been reported in the literature. Our findings demonstrate that canine CA may result from autosomal recessive inheritance, and CA must be considered during diagnostic clinical approaches and breeding selections.