• Cholesterol-rich diets, such as crickets that are fed dry dog food or other cholesterol-rich kibbles or mashes • Overfeeding, particularly of amphibians that consume rodents, goldfish, and other whole-body vertebrate food items • Maintaining at temperatures below the preferred operating temperature zone (POTZ) • Early stages present as a white stippling or coalescing lesion on the surface of the cornea. • Advanced stages may appear three-dimensional, with a white rough surface penetrating the corneal stroma. • As lipid deposits accumulate and the lesion enlarges, bleeding may occur centrally or along the periphery of the lesion. • Occasionally, xanthomas may be present in the skin or may be detected on internal organs via transillumination. • Most amphibians have evolved by feeding on prey items with inherently low cholesterol levels. It is likely that domestic prey species (e.g., crickets, rodents, mealworms) contain higher amounts of cholesterol than wild prey species and may have a different balance of fatty acids. Amphibians may not be equipped to assimilate and eliminate these unnatural levels of lipids, and cholesterol may accumulate in tissues other than the fat bodies—the normal storage organs for excess fat. Calcium deposits may form within fat deposits. Inflammation may surround the xanthomas. • Overfeeding of low-cholesterol items may trigger corneal lipidosis. • Amphibians that are not able to reach higher temperatures within their POTZ may be prone to corneal lipidosis. • Amphibians that are not reproducing do not have sufficient turnover of fat stores through egg production or through mate-attracting behaviors, and this may promote corneal lipidosis. • It is possible that hypovitaminosis A may play a role in this disease through its impact on epithelial cell development, but that theory has not been explored.
Corneal Lipidosis or Xanthomatosis
Basic Information
Epidemiology
Risk Factors
Clinical Presentation
Physical Exam Findings
Etiology and Pathophysiology
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Corneal Lipidosis or Xanthomatosis
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