In other species: Mallard , crab-eating macaque , dog , domestic ferret , domestic cat , horse , pig , taurine cattle , sheep , peach-faced lovebird

Categories: Lysosomal storage disease , Nervous system phene

Mendelian trait/disorder: unknown

Disease-related: yes

Cross-species summary: The neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs) are a heterogenous group of inherited neurodegenerative diseases characterised by brain and retinal atrophy and the accumulation of autofluorescent lipopigment in neurons and many other cells within the body. Clinical features of NCL are abnormal behavior, dementia, loss of vision, motor disturbances and seizures, and premature death. See also gene specific entries including OMIA:001504 (PPT1-related), OMIA:001472 (TPP1-related), OMIA:002432 (CLN3-related), OMIA:001482 (CLN5-related), OMIA:001443 (CLN6-related), OMIA:001962 (CLN7/MFSD8-related), OMIA:001506 (CLN8-related), OMIA:001505 (CTSD10-related) and OMIA:001552 (ATP13A2-related).

Species-specific name: neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis

Species-specific symbol: NCL

Species-specific description: There is only 1 publication of NCL in goats, reporting the disease in 2 related female Nubian goats (Fiske and Storts 1988). In both cases, clinical signs and pathology findings were typical for NCL, although the storage material was not characterised. Preliminary pedigree analysis indicated an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. There is no genetic assignment for NCL in goats.

Clinical features: The goats developed clinical signs at 18 and 10 months of age. Both showed similar progressive neurological signs of ataxia and paresis, and were euthanized at 2 and 4 years of age, respectively.

Pathology: No gross abnormality was reported in the pathology samples. Similar microscopic lesions were found in both goats; with the brain and spinal cord neurons containing storage bodies that were eosinophilic in nature, positive for Periodic acid Schiff (PAS) and acid fast techniques. The storage bodies were autofluorescent under ultraviolet light. Ultrastructurally, the storage bodies within neurons were described to be "spherical, concentrically-laminated membranous bodies, with some having whorled fingerprint pattern" (Fiske and Storts, 1988).