Brian’s research interests centre around canine immunology and immunogenetics in relation to susceptibility to immune-mediated diseases and response to vaccination. Brian is currently investigating canine endocrine disease, more specifically working to understand the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism and hypoadrenocorticism in dogs.

Brian is also involved in a study characterising canine innate immune response genes to determine whether these are involved in susceptibility to various disease syndromes (including anal furunculosis and inflammatory bowel disease). Alongside this, Brian is also examining the genetics of vaccine responses in dogs; how immune response genes can influence the response to vaccination and how immunosenescence impacts on the immune response as dogs get older.

Serological testing for canine Addison’s disease

Addison’s disease (hypoadrenocorticism) is an autoimmune condition that occurs in dogs when the immune system attacks and destroys the adrenal gland, leading to a deficiency of steroid hormones.

We are interested in the genetics and autoimmune response in canine Addison’s disease and have identified autoantibodies in the blood that react to proteins in the adrenal gland. We are interested in carrying out further research into this disease, to measure these autoantibodies, to see whether they can be used as part of diagnostic testing and potentially to identify dogs that have an autoimmune reaction, before they develop clinical signs. We are keen to recruit dogs that are undergoing blood sampling as part of diagnostic testing for Addison’s disease or who are being monitored for their response to steroid replacement therapy.

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1: Dutton LC, Dudhia J, Catchpole B, Hodgkiss-Geere H, Werling D, Connolly DJ.
Cardiosphere-derived cells suppress allogeneic lymphocytes by production of PGE2
acting via the EP4 receptor. Sci Rep. 2018 Sep 6;8(1):13351. doi:
10.1038/s41598-018-31569-1. PubMed PMID: 30190508; PubMed Central PMCID:
PMC6127326.


2: Boag AM, Christie MR, McLaughlin KA, Syme HM, Graham P, Catchpole B. A
longitudinal study of autoantibodies against cytochrome P450 side-chain cleavage
enzyme in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) affected with hypoadrenocorticism
(Addison's disease). Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2018 Aug;202:41-45. doi:
10.1016/j.vetimm.2018.05.013. Epub 2018 May 26. PubMed PMID: 30078597.


3: Soutter F, Martorell S, Solano-Gallego L, Catchpole B. Inconsistent MHC class
II association in Beagles experimentally infected with Leishmania infantum. Vet
J. 2018 May;235:9-15. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2018.03.001. Epub 2018 Mar 7. PubMed
PMID: 29704945.


4: Holder A, Jones G, Soutter F, Palmer DB, Aspinall R, Catchpole B.
Polymorphisms in the canine IL7R 3'UTR are associated with thymic output in
Labrador retriever dogs and influence post-transcriptional regulation by microRNA
185. Dev Comp Immunol. 2018 Apr;81:244-251. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2017.12.008. Epub
2017 Dec 14. PubMed PMID: 29247721.


5: Holder A, Mirczuk SM, Fowkes RC, Palmer DB, Aspinall R, Catchpole B.
Perturbation of the T cell receptor repertoire occurs with increasing age in
dogs. Dev Comp Immunol. 2018 Feb;79:150-157. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2017.10.020. Epub
2017 Oct 28. PubMed PMID: 29103899; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5711257.


6: Dutton LC, Church SAV, Hodgkiss-Geere H, Catchpole B, Huggins A, Dudhia J,
Connolly DJ. Cryopreservation of canine cardiosphere-derived cells: Implications
for clinical application. Cytometry A. 2018 Jan;93(1):115-124. doi:
10.1002/cyto.a.23186. Epub 2017 Aug 22. PubMed PMID: 28834400.


7: O'Kell AL, Wasserfall C, Catchpole B, Davison LJ, Hess RS, Kushner JA,
Atkinson MA. Comparative Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Diabetes in Humans, NOD Mice,
and Canines: Has a Valuable Animal Model of Type 1 Diabetes Been Overlooked?
Diabetes. 2017 Jun;66(6):1443-1452. doi: 10.2337/db16-1551. PubMed PMID:
28533295; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5440022.


8: Davison LJ, Holder A, Catchpole B, O'Callaghan CA. The Canine POMC Gene,
Obesity in Labrador Retrievers and Susceptibility to Diabetes Mellitus. J Vet
Intern Med. 2017 Mar;31(2):343-348. doi: 10.1111/jvim.14636. Epub 2017 Feb 8.
Erratum in: J Vet Intern Med. 2017 Jul;31(4):1362. PubMed PMID: 28176381; PubMed
Central PMCID: PMC5354034.


9: Scudder CJ, Niessen SJ, Catchpole B, Fowkes RC, Church DB, Forcada Y. Feline
hypersomatotropism and acromegaly tumorigenesis: a potential role for the AIP
gene. Domest Anim Endocrinol. 2017 Apr;59:134-139. doi:
10.1016/j.domaniend.2016.11.005. Epub 2016 Dec 8. PubMed PMID: 28119176.


10: Peiravan A, Allenspach K, Boag AM, Soutter F, Holder A, Catchpole B, Kennedy
LJ, Werling D, Procoli F. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in major
histocompatibility class II haplotypes are associated with potential resistance
to inflammatory bowel disease in German shepherd dogs. Vet Immunol Immunopathol.
2016 Dec;182:101-105. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2016.10.012. Epub 2016 Oct 22. PubMed
PMID: 27863539.


11: Holder A, Mella S, Palmer DB, Aspinall R, Catchpole B. An Age-Associated
Decline in Thymic Output Differs in Dog Breeds According to Their Longevity. PLoS
One. 2016 Nov 8;11(11):e0165968. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165968. eCollection
2016. PubMed PMID: 27824893; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5100965.


12: Boag AM, Christie MR, McLaughlin KA, Syme HM, Graham P, Catchpole B.
Autoantibodies against Cytochrome P450 Side-Chain Cleavage Enzyme in Dogs (Canis
lupus familiaris) Affected with Hypoadrenocorticism (Addison's Disease). PLoS
One. 2015 Nov 30;10(11):e0143458. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143458. eCollection
2015. PubMed PMID: 26618927; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4664467.


13: Threlfall AJ, Boag AM, Soutter F, Glanemann B, Syme HM, Catchpole B. Analysis
of DLA-DQB1 and polymorphisms in CTLA4 in Cocker spaniels affected with
immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia. Canine Genet Epidemiol. 2015 Jun 9;2:8. doi:
10.1186/s40575-015-0020-y. eCollection 2015. PubMed PMID: 26401336; PubMed
Central PMCID: PMC4579385.


14: Holder AL, Kennedy LJ, Ollier WE, Catchpole B. Breed differences in
development of anti-insulin antibodies in diabetic dogs and investigation of the
role of dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) genes. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2015 Oct
15;167(3-4):130-8. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2015.07.014. Epub 2015 Aug 2. PubMed
PMID: 26272177.


15: Boag AM, Catchpole B. A review of the genetics of hypoadrenocorticism. Top
Companion Anim Med. 2014 Dec;29(4):96-101. doi: 10.1053/j.tcam.2015.01.001. Epub
2015 Jan 5. Review. PubMed PMID: 25813849.


16: Killick DR, Stell AJ, Catchpole B. Immunotherapy for canine cancer--is it
time to go back to the future? J Small Anim Pract. 2015 Apr;56(4):229-41. doi:
10.1111/jsap.12336. Epub 2015 Feb 23. Review. PubMed PMID: 25704119.


17: Soutter F, Kennedy LJ, Ollier WE, Solano-Gallego L, Catchpole B. Restricted
dog leucocyte antigen (DLA) class II haplotypes and genotypes in Beagles. Vet J.
2015 Mar;203(3):345-7. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.12.032. Epub 2015 Jan 5. PubMed
PMID: 25634081; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4366010.


18: Adams JP, Holder AL, Catchpole B. Recombinant canine single chain insulin
analogues: insulin receptor binding capacity and ability to stimulate glucose
uptake. Vet J. 2014 Dec;202(3):436-42. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.09.027. Epub 2014
Oct 5. PubMed PMID: 25457265.


19: Short AD, Catchpole B, Boag AM, Kennedy LJ, Massey J, Rothwell S, Henthorn
PS, Littman MP, Husebye E, Ollier B. Putative candidate genes for canine
hypoadrenocorticism (Addison's disease) in multiple dog breeds. Vet Rec. 2014 Nov
1;175(17):430. doi: 10.1136/vr.102160. Epub 2014 Aug 14. PubMed PMID: 25124887.


20: Kathrani A, Lee H, White C, Catchpole B, Murphy A, German A, Werling D,
Allenspach K. Association between nucleotide oligomerisation domain two (Nod2)
gene polymorphisms and canine inflammatory bowel disease. Vet Immunol
Immunopathol. 2014 Sep 15;161(1-2):32-41. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2014.06.003. Epub
2014 Jun 26. PubMed PMID: 25017709.
 

Brian is the Teaching Coordinator for the department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences as well as the Director of Assessment (pre-clinical and postgraduate). He teaches the core immunology component on the undergraduate BVetMed course as well as contributing to immunology teaching on the BSc Bioveterinary Sciences and BSc Comparative Pathology courses.