The Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Receptor is a cell-surface receptor presented in clathrin-coated pits that mediates the endocytosis of LDL, the major cholesterol-carrying lipoprotein of plasma. Loss of Ldlr function leads to accumulation of excess LDL in the blood, leading to elevated serum cholesterol, especially when fed a high fat diet, which makes Ldlr knockout rat a good model for studying atherosclerosis, familial hypercholesterolemia. This rat can be used to support research in many areas including diabetes and obesity research, cardiovascular research, metabolism research etc.

Homozygous Ldlr^tm1/Bcgen rats demonstrate significantly elevated serum cholesterol levels at 4 months of age.