Hyperlipidemia in rabbit hemorrhagic disease

Clinically healthy rabbits were inoculated with rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) and the kinetics of their serum lipid parameters and liver enzymes were monitored. After RHDV inoculation, hyperlipidemia was observed (P(triglyceride)<0.0001, P(cholesterol)=0.0003) along with significant increases in serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and gamma-glutamyltransferase (P<0.0001). An exponential increase in serum triglyceride was also seen. Thus, the presence of hyperlipidemia (from 30 h post-inoculation) in the infected rabbits points to impairment in lipid metabolism. This is the first demonstration that RHDV infection leads to hyperlipidemia, probably due to the disorder of liver enzymes associated with lipid metabolism.