| A rare lipoprotein metabolism disorder characterized clinically by corneal opacities and sometimes renal failure and hemolytic anemia, and biochemically by severely reduced HDL cholesterol. Age of onset is variable but most patients are diagnosed during adulthood. Two familial forms of LCAT deficiency have been reported: familial LCAT deficiency characterized by corneal opacities, anemia and renal insufficiency, and Fish-eye disease characterized by corneal opacities and sometimes atherosclerosis. LCAT deficiency is caused by deficient or absent catalytic activity of the LCAT enzyme, which catalyzes the formation of cholesterol esters in lipoproteins and is encoded by the LCAT gene (16q22.1). Accumulation of unesterified cholesterol in the body for example in the cornea, erythrocytes and kidneys, is thought to underlie the clinical manifestations. |
