Anomalous (preduodenal) portal vein: autosomal recessive mutation in AKR/J mice.
OBJECTIVE
Anomalous (preduodenal) portal vein was found in AKR/J mice. It is a rare congenital malformation in humans, and to the authors' knowledge, has never been reported in laboratory animals. Morphology, clinical signs of disease, and heritability of this anomaly were examined.


METHODS
Fifty-three strains of inbred mice (6,026 mice) in our mouse colony were examined for preduodenal portal vein and its association with clinical signs of disease (vomiting or abdominal pain) and other anomalies. Heritability also was tested by use of cross-backcross matings of AKR/J mice with clinically normal PT mice.


RESULTS
The portal vein was found at the ventral side of the duodenum in most (98%) AKR/J mice, whereas it ran at the dorsal side of the duodenum in 52 other inbred mouse strains in our mouse colony. Clinical signs of disease and other congenital anomalies were not detected in this strain of mice, although position has a high association with other congenital anomalies in humans. Heritability testing of this anomaly in AKR/J mice indicated single autosomal recessive inheritance.


CONCLUSIONS
Preduodenal portal vein found in AKR/J mice is a single autosomal recessive mutation, but is not associated with clinical signs of disease and other congenital malformations.
Nakajima
H
H
Department of Radiation Biology and Medical Genetics, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
Li
L
L
Nomura
T
T
D000818:Animals; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008806:Mice, Inbred AKR / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009154:Mutation; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000196:embryology; D013045:Species Specificity