Hepatic jaundice in a colony of nude mice

A colony of nude mice was maintained under controlled standards of care for 12 months, at which time a rapidly escalating liver disease developed in the animals, characterized by jaundice, emaciation, and rapid death. Histologically, the livers had swollen, vacuolated hepatic cells and increased numbers of enlarged Kupffer cells. Mouse hepatitis virus was not isolated from the livers of sick mice. Although the nature of the lesions suggested toxicity, efforts to reproduce the lesions by increased exposure to chemical compounds used for colony husbandry were unsuccessful. A definitive determination of the causative agent was not made.