LEC, Rat Strain

**Semantic type:** Mammal

**Definition:** Carries a mutation causing fulminated hepatitis and jaundice at about four months of age. Clinical symptoms include severe jaundice, bleeding, oliguria, loss of body weight and elevation of serum levels of bilirubin and hepatic enzymes. About half the animals die within a week of onset, and in survivors hepatocellular carcinoma spontaneously appears after 1-1.5 years (Kasai et al 1990,Sasaki 1985, Wirth et al 1990).