Gastric lymphoid follicular hyperplasia (GLFH) has been reported as highly prevalent in French Bulldogs (FB). However, screening for confounders was never performed. In humans and cats, an association between Helicobacter/Helicobacter-like organism (HLO) infection and GLFH is recognized.

This study aimed to 1) confirm the association between GLFH and FB and 2) screen for confounders, especially regarding HLO presence.

A total of 288 client-owned dogs were included.

Medical records of dogs that underwent gastroscopy between January 2013 and December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Two univariate analyses were performed in order to identify the association between signalment, clinical signs, endoscopic and histopathologic variables with GLFH and FB, respectively. Significant variables of both analyses were included in a multivariate analysis. Backward elimination was used to select the final model.

Variables associated with GLFH on univariate analysis included: FB (p=0.04), intact male (p=0.03), age (p<0.001), vomiting (p=0.03), discoloration (p=0.02), hemorrhage (p<0.001), ulcerations (p=0.004) on gastric endoscopy, and epithelial and lamina propria lymphocyte invasion (p<0.001) and HLO presence (p<0.001) on histopathology. Variables associated with FB on univariate analysis included intact male (p=0.005), age (p<0.001), vomiting (p<0.001), discoloration (p=0.001) and hemorrhage (p=0.01) on gastric endoscopy, and HLO presence (p=0.001) on histopathology. Final model included FB, age, vomiting, gastric hemorrhage and HLO presence. FB (p=0.87) and age (p=0.18) were no longer associated with GLFH on multivariate analysis. HLO colonization was associated with young age (p<0.001) but not with FB (p=0.1).

Although an association between HLO colonization and young age was identified, this study shows that GLFH is not more frequent in FB as it would be expected.

Disclosures

No disclosures to report.