RGD Reference Report - Spontaneous hepatic copper accumulation in Long-Evans Cinnamon rats with hereditary hepatitis. A model of Wilson's disease. - Rat Genome Database

Send us a Message



Submit Data |  Help |  Video Tutorials |  News |  Publications |  Download |  REST API |  Citing RGD |  Contact   

Spontaneous hepatic copper accumulation in Long-Evans Cinnamon rats with hereditary hepatitis. A model of Wilson's disease.

Authors: Li, Y  Togashi, Y  Sato, S  Emoto, T  Kang, J H  Takeichi, N  Kobayashi, H  Kojima, Y  Une, Y  Uchino, J 
Citation: Li Y, etal., J Clin Invest. 1991 May;87(5):1858-61. doi: 10.1172/JCI115208.
RGD ID: 25823147
Pubmed: PMID:2022751   (View Abstract at PubMed)
PMCID: PMC295311   (View Article at PubMed Central)
DOI: DOI:10.1172/JCI115208   (Journal Full-text)

Long-Evans Cinnamon (LEC) rats, an inbred strain of a mutant rat isolated from Long-Evans rats, develop hereditary hepatitis. To elucidate the role of copper metabolism in the development of the hepatitis in LEC rats, we examined the copper concentration in the tissues and serum levels of copper and ceruloplasmin. Copper concentration in the liver of LEC rats was over 40 times that of normal Long-Evans Agouti (LEA) rats, while the serum ceruloplasmin and copper concentrations in LEC rats decreased significantly. The hepatocytes of LEC rats show steatosis in cytoplasm and pleomorphism of mitochondria, resembling the histologic features of the liver in Wilson's disease. These findings suggest that the hereditary hepatitis in LEC rats is closely associated with copper toxicity, and may be dealing with a rat form of Wilson's disease. Thus the LEC rats will provide a unique and useful animal model for clarifying the mechanism and for developing treatment strategies for Wilson's disease and other abnormal copper metabolism in humans.



Phenotype Annotations    

Mammalian Phenotype
Objects Annotated

Genes (Rattus norvegicus)
Atp7b  (ATPase copper transporting beta)
Atp7bhts  (ATPase copper transporting beta; hepatitis)

Strains
LEC/Hok  (Long Evans Cinnamon)


Additional Information