Dog with Hunter Syndrome- what can he eat?

October 28, 2008 1:45 PM

Hello, gifted people. I have a library patron whose dog has been diagnosed with mucopolysaccharidosis, aka Hunter Syndrome. She is pursuing an experimental bone marrow treatment plan that has helped other dogs with this rare condition, but in the meantime her dog is limited to foods that have no triglycerides, polysaccharides, or mucopolysaccharides. Her question: are there any foods in the carbohydrate family that are NOT triglycerides, polysaccharides, or mucopolysaccharides? Or, to rephrase in maybe a simpler manner, are there any carbs that her dog can eat with this mucopolysaccharidosis disease?

I've found as much information for her as I can using my library's reference databases, the Merck veterinary manual, MedlinePlus, and good old google. Thanks for any insight you can provide!

posted by agathafrye to pets & animals (7 comments total)

Err... glucose?
posted by killdevil at 1:57 PM on October 28, 2008

A polysaccharide is a carbohydrate composed of many single sugar molecules bonded to each other, to be clear. So simple sugars like glucose or fructose sound like they ought to work.

But she should really ask her vet as opposed to not non-vets on the Internet.
posted by killdevil at 1:59 PM on October 28, 2008

alt.med.veterinary on good old Usenet (also accessible & searchable via Google Groups) has a group of knowledgeable posters. If someone there doesn't know the answer, they'd likely be able to point you in the right direction.

Also check the web site for the vet school at Cornell University. They used to have an "ask the vet" email service, and they still might have it. I think they also had/have a way to search a set of vet medical journals.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 2:34 PM on October 28, 2008

I have an MPS (mucopolysaccharidosis) disorder. In humans, dietary changes do not affect the progression of the disorder. The breakdown in question occurs at the metabolic level, not the digestive level. I don't see any reason the situation wouldn't be the same for dogs.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 2:35 PM on October 28, 2008

Thanks for all responses so far. I was vainly hoping to net a vet or vet student for the response, but thanks particularly for the leads from improvise and spaceman.
posted by agathafrye at 3:46 PM on October 28, 2008

Diet is going to have relatively little impact upon the progression of mucopolysaccharidosis, to understand why look at how the disease mechanism functions.

The body is continually synthesizing a variety of proteoglycans for use in connective tissues, blood, brain and other tissues.

Hunter syndrome is specifically MPS II, a subtype of mucopolysaccharidosis. What makes this type unique is deficiency/dysfunction of the enzyme iduronate sulfatase. It prevents the body from breaking down dermatan sulfate and heparin sulfate, proteins found in your skin, blood vessels, heart, tendons, lungs and involved in a variety of essnetial biological functions.

There is no clinical evidence that the macronutrient makeup of diet, including in take of triglycerides, polysaccharides or mucopolysaccharides has any effect upon the progression of the disease, probably because they're broken down into their building blocks during digestion. One support group suggets changes to the diet will not prevent disease progression, but limiting milk, sugar, and dairy products has helped some individuals experiencing excessive mucus.

This study on rats suggests a diet low in cyanoglucoside levels results in less GAG and an increase in the enzymes involved with the degradation of glycosaminoglycan.

I would poke around on pubmed and google scholar using 'diet' and one of the protein or enzyme keywords relating from this disease and look for rat/mice studies on accumulation, it seems this disease is too rare to have any diet studies funded.
posted by zentrification at 10:11 PM on October 28, 2008

thanks much zentrification, this is very helpful. I also got a great vet hookup from specialK. AskMeFi=WIN once again!
posted by agathafrye at 9:19 PM on October 31, 2008