Gonzales K L, Famula T R, Feng L C, Power H M N, Bullis J M
Guide Dogs for the Blind, San Rafael, California, 94903, USA.
Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, California, 95616, USA.
J Small Anim Pract. 2021 Apr;62(4):286-292. doi: 10.1111/jsap.13292. Epub 2021 Jan 26.
To investigate if maternal folic acid supplementation (5 mg) is associated with a reduction of cleft palates, umbilical hernias, stillbirths and caesarean sections in a guide dog breeding colony.
Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and Labrador/golden Crosses from the breeding colony of a professional guide dog training organisation were eligible for inclusion. Dams in the treatment group (n = 137) received 5 mg oral folic acid supplementation daily from the start of pro-oestrous through day 40 of gestation. A historical control group (n = 134) was selected from the previous calendar year for comparison. A logistic regression model identified the relative risk of disease (cleft palates, umbilical hernias, stillbirths and caesarean sections) for puppies whose dams did or did not receive folic acid supplementation.
A total of 1917 puppies (890 control, 1027 treatment; from 294 litters) were produced during the entire study period, with 994 puppies (494 control, 500 treatment; from 144 litters) born to the subset of dams (n = 72) who produced litters during both the control and treatment periods. All 95% highest posterior densities of relative risk included 1.0, failing to detect differences between the treatment and control groups on incidence rate of cleft palate (control: 2.25%; treatment: 2.34%), umbilical hernias (control: 1.91%; treatment: 3.12%), stillbirths (control: 3.26%; treatment: 2.92%) and caesarean sections (control: 1.45%; treatment: 1.28%).
There was no observable reduction of cleft palate, umbilical hernia, stillbirth or caesarean section associated with folic acid supplementation during pregnancy in the study colony. For a domestic dog cohort with a low tendency of hereditary malformations, such as this study colony, 5 mg dietary folic acid supplementation should not be expected to drastically improve or eradicate these diseases.
研究在导盲犬繁殖群体中，母体补充叶酸（5毫克）是否与腭裂、脐疝、死产和剖宫产的减少有关。
来自专业导盲犬训练机构繁殖群体的拉布拉多寻回犬、金毛寻回犬以及拉布拉多/金毛混血犬符合纳入标准。治疗组的母犬（n = 137）从发情前期开始至妊娠第40天，每天口服5毫克叶酸。从之前的日历年中选取一个历史对照组（n = 134）进行比较。逻辑回归模型确定了母犬接受或未接受叶酸补充的幼犬患疾病（腭裂、脐疝、死产和剖宫产）的相对风险。
在整个研究期间共出生1917只幼犬（890只对照组，1027只治疗组；来自294窝），其中994只幼犬（494只对照组，500只治疗组；来自144窝）由在对照期和治疗期均产仔的母犬子集（n = 72）所生。相对风险的所有95%最高后验密度均包含1.0，未检测到治疗组和对照组在腭裂发病率（对照组：2.25%；治疗组：2.34%）、脐疝发病率（对照组：1.91%；治疗组：3.12%）、死产发病率（对照组：3.26%；治疗组：2.92%）和剖宫产发病率（对照组：1.45%；治疗组：1.28%）上的差异。
在该研究群体中，孕期补充叶酸与腭裂、脐疝、死产或剖宫产的减少无明显关联。对于像本研究群体这样遗传性畸形倾向较低的家犬群体，不应期望补充5毫克膳食叶酸能显著改善或根除这些疾病。
