Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Experimental Pathology logoLink to British Journal of Experimental Pathology
. 1982 Feb;63(1):66–81.

Genetically mediated resistance to naturally occurring aortic sclerosis in spontaneously hypertensive as against Sprague-Dawley and Wistar-Kyoto breeder rats.

B C Wexler, J P McMurtry
PMCID: PMC2040749  PMID: 7066185

Abstract

Male and female, normotensive, Sprague-Dawley (S-D), Wistar-Kyoto (WKy), and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) were bred repeatedly until the females had given birth to and nursed 6 litters of pups. At the close of the 2nd, 4th and 6th breeding, breeder males and females, along with celibate males and females of equal age, were killed. S-D and WKy breeder rats manifested progressively increasing adiposity and high blood pressure with each successive breeding; breeder SHR showed mild exacerbation of their pre-existing high blood pressure. Adrenocortical hyperplasia and thymus-gland involution suggested increasing pituitary-adrenal activity in breeder rats. Circulating aldosterone levels decreased with repeated breeding in parallel with increased deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone secretion. The repeatedly bred normotensive rats manifested worsening aortic sclerosis as against little or no aortic sclerosis in the repeatedly bred SHR. Breeder SHR developed fibrinohyalin intimal lesions limited exclusively to the arterioles of the testis and ovary. Virgin rats did not develop any vascular disease. It is suggested that a diverse spectrum of adrenal steroids in breeder HSR combined with genetic direction control the morphogenesis of arterial disease in breeder SHR.

Full text

PDF
66

Images in this article

75Fig. 8
on p.75
75Fig. 9
on p.75
74Fig. 6
on p.74
74Fig. 7
on p.74
76Fig. 10
on p.76
76Fig. 11
on p.76
77Fig. 12
on p.77

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Iams S. G., McMurthy J. P., Wexler B. C. Aldosterone, deoxycorticosterone, corticosterone, and prolactin changes during the lifespan of chronically and spontaneously hypertensive rats. Endocrinology. 1979 May;104(5):1357–1363. doi: 10.1210/endo-104-5-1357. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Iams S. G., Wexler B. C. Aldosterone, deoxycorticosterone and corticosterone differences between arteriosclerotic breeder vs nonarteriosclerotic virgin rats. Atherosclerosis. 1976 Jul-Aug;24(1-2):63–73. doi: 10.1016/0021-9150(76)90064-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Iams S. G., Wexler B. C. Inhibition of spontaneously developing arteriosclerosis in female breeder rats by adrenalectomy. Atherosclerosis. 1977 Jul;27(3):311–323. doi: 10.1016/0021-9150(77)90040-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Judd J. T., Wexler B. C. The role of lactation and weaning in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis in female breeder rats. J Atheroscler Res. 1969 Sep-Oct;10(2):153–172. doi: 10.1016/s0368-1319(69)80004-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. KITTINGER G. W., WEXLER B. C. ADRENAL GLAND DEHYDROGENASES AND CORTICOSTEROID PRODUCTION IN NORMAL AND ARTERIOSCLEROTIC FEMALE RATS. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1965 Feb;118:365–367. doi: 10.3181/00379727-118-29844. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. OKAMOTO K., AOKI K. Development of a strain of spontaneously hypertensive rats. Jpn Circ J. 1963 Mar;27:282–293. doi: 10.1253/jcj.27.282. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. WEXLER B. C., KITTINGER G. W. ADRENOCORTICAL FUNCTION IN ARTERIOSCLEROTIC FEMALE BREEDER RATS. J Atheroscler Res. 1965 May-Jun;5(3):317–329. doi: 10.1016/s0368-1319(65)80047-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. WEXLER B. C. SPONTANEOUS ARTERIOSCLEROSIS IN REPEATEDLY BRED MALE AND FEMALE RATS. J Atheroscler Res. 1964 Jan-Feb;4:57–80. doi: 10.1016/s0368-1319(64)80016-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. WEXLER B. C., TRUE C. W. Carotid and cerebral arteriosclerosis in the rat. Circ Res. 1963 Jun;12:659–666. doi: 10.1161/01.res.12.6.659. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Wexler B. C. Arteriosclerosis of the renal artery in repeatedly bred male and female rats. Atherosclerosis. 1970 May-Jun;11(3):383–400. doi: 10.1016/0021-9150(70)90018-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Wexler B. C., Iams S. G., Judd J. T. Comparative effects of adrenal regeneration hypertension on non-arteriosclerotic and arteriosclerotic Sprague-Dawley vs spontaneously hypertensive rats. Atherosclerosis. 1977 Jan;26(1):1–15. doi: 10.1016/0021-9150(77)90134-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Wexler B. C. Induction of diverse arterial and myocardial lesions by adrenal regeneration hypertension in Sprague-Dawley versus spontaneously hypertensive rats. Endocrinology. 1980 Mar;106(3):935–947. doi: 10.1210/endo-106-3-935. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Wexler B. C., McMurtry J. P., Iams S. G. Histopathologic changes in aging male vs female spontaneously hypertensive rats. J Gerontol. 1981 Sep;36(5):514–519. doi: 10.1093/geronj/36.5.514. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British journal of experimental pathology are provided here courtesy of Wiley

RESOURCES