• Cause: severe hypercholesterolemia with excessive deposition of lipids in the cornea.
• Signs: pearly corneal opacity.
• Diagnosis: histopathology.
• Treatment: it is usually considered an untreatable condition.
• Prognosis: depends on severity of condition and severity of vision loss.

• White corneal opacities, unilateral or bilateral.

• It is a progressive disease.

• Lipid keratopathy in rabbits has been studies experimentally as a model for human familial hypercholesterolemia. For such purpose, some particular strains of rabbits have been created, such as the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit.
• Strains susceptible to develop hypercholesterolemia are not part of the pet rabbit population.

• Proper diagnosis may involve specialized ophthalmologic equipment and histopathology.

• The main risk associated with this disease is the fact that when the condition is detected in the eye, similar lesions (atherosclerotic plaques) may be affecting other internal organs, such as the brain.

• Lipid keratopathy in rabbits is induced with very high serum cholesterol levels.
• There is also a hereditary predisposition in some strains of rabbits towards hypercholesterolemia, although the impact on the population of pet rabbits is unknown.
• Inbreeding may also have an influence on the development of this condition.
• Acquired disease can be induced by feeding high-cholesterol diet of animal origin, such as milk, other dairy products or fishmeal.
• It has been reported in other species than severe trauma to the cornea, eg chemical injuries, herpetic keratitis, can produce lipid keratopathy.

General

• Inbreeding.
• Diet high in lipids.

Specific

• Diet based on milk and dairy products.
• Some specific strains/breeds.

• When serum cholesterol levels are above 10 mmol/L (=386 mg/dL) atherosclerotic plaques can develop in eye structures and in other internal organs such as arteries. Normal serum cholesterol values in rabbits depend on diet and are usually 0.1-2 mmol/L (4-80 mg/dL).
• Experimentally, intravitreal injection of gentamicin can also induce lipid keratopathy.

• Rare disorder in pet rabbits.

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Hall M N, Moshirfar M, Amin-Javaheri A et al (2020) Lipid keratopathy: a review of pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, and management. Ophthal Therapy 9 (4), 833-852 PubMed.
• Chai N & Bouhanna L (2001) Lipidose oculaire bilatérale chez un lapin de compagnie. Pratique des Animaux Sauvages & Exotiques 1 (3), 10-12.
• Garibaldi B A & Pecquet Goad M E (1988) Lipid keratopathy in the Watanabe (WHHL) rabbit. Vet Pathol 25 (2), 173-174 PubMed.
• Moore C P, Dubielzig R & Glaza S M (1987) Anterior corneal dystrophy of American Dutch belted rabbits: biomicroscopic and histopathologic findings. Vet Pathol 24 (1), 28-33 PubMed.
• Gwin R M & Gelatt K N (1977) Bilateral ocular lipidosis in a cottontail rabbit fed an all-milk diet. J Am Vet Med Assoc 171 (9), 887-889 PubMed.