High incidence of spontaneous cataracts in aging laboratory rabbits of an inbred strain

Abstract

Objective To investigate the occurrence of spontaneous cataracts in a breeding colony of the inbred EIII/JC strain of New Zealand White rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculi) and the congenic strain of EIII/JC-HLA-A2.1transgenic rabbits. Procedure A retrospective study was conducted by collecting and analyzing data from clinical records for individual rabbits filed between January 2011 and October 2013. Results Thirteen cases (8 females and 5 males) of cataract were identified in a group of 51 EIII/JC inbred rabbits with a morbidity of 25.5%. The median age of the rabbits identified with unilateral or bilateral cataracts was 43 months in contrast to the median age of 23 months of the entire group of 51 rabbits. Additionally, seven cases (5 females and 2 males) of cataracts were identified in a group of 21 EIII/JC-HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbits. The EIII/JC- HLA.A2.1 transgenic rabbits showed similar morbidity (33.3%) and median age (41 months) for the development of cataracts as the EIII/JC rabbits. In both groups, none of the rabbits younger than 37 months developed cataracts while 13 (93%) of 14 EIII/JC rabbits aged 37 to 49 months and 7 (63.6%) of 11 EIII/JC-HLA.A2.1 transgenic rabbits aged 37 to 43 months developed cataracts. In contrast, none of 78 outbred rabbits with a median age of 29 months (10 to 67 months) developed cataracts. Conclusion Results of this study indicate that the occurrence and high incidence of spontaneous cataracts in this inbred strain (EIII/JC) of rabbits were strictly age related and consistently transmitted through inbreeding.

On individual‐specific prediction of hidden inbreeding depression load

“…The full pedigree involved 2,657 rabbits and 1,939 of them were inbred (73.0%) with inbreeding coefficients ranging from 4.5% to 68.1%. This population must be seen as an intermediate stage between standard commercial rabbit lines (Ragab, Sánchez, & Baselga, ) and laboratory strains (Peng, Roshwalb, Cooper, Zimmerman, & Christensen, ) in terms of accumulated inbreeding. The inbreeding coefficient must be appropriately decomposed to be implemented in the model outlined above.…”

From rabbit antibody repertoires to rabbit monoclonal antibodies

“…18, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 A third important aspect is the scarcity of inbred rabbit strains, while most mouse strains are inbred. 1, 42 It is thought that inbred strains in general elicit less diverse immune responses, which makes it more difficult to raise strong and diverse binders. 18 Correspondingly, in many IHC studies that compared rabbit and mouse mAbs to the same human antigens, rabbit mAbs consistently revealed higher sensitivity.…”

Rabbits with naturally occurring cataracts referred for phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation: a preliminary study of 12 cases

“…Rabbit cataracts have been described in association with Encephalitozoon cuniculi . One study also indicated that age‐related rabbit cataracts might develop due to inbreeding . However, there is very little published information about the behavioral and ocular health impact of cataracts and cataract surgery in pet rabbits.…”