title: Spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar Kyoto rats are genetically disparate.
abstract: Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) are one of the most common animal models used to study essential hypertension in humans. Because SHR and normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats were both established from the same parental, normotensive Wistar stock, WKY animals have been used almost exclusively as control animals in studies of SHR. Recently, the suitability of WKY rats as normotensive controls for SHR has been challenged. To establish whether or not SHR and WKY rats share the same immunologic backgrounds, we initially performed a series of skin grafting experiments on these animals. In all cases, grafts of SHR donor skin to WKY recipients and of WKY donor skin to SHR recipients resulted in complete rejection within 7 to 10 days. In addition, grafts of WKY donor skin to other WKY recipients resulted in graft rejection. By contrast, skin grafts between SHRs were always accepted. To further characterize the genetic distinctions between SHR and WKY rats, allelic profiles based on a series of immunologic and biochemical markers were established for each strain. These findings clearly establish that SHR and WKY rats differ at the major histocompatibility complex, in specific blood group antigens, and in a panel of isozymic markers. Moreover, whereas SHRs have the same genetic profiles irrespective of source, some colonies of WKY rats are outbred, as judged by their variant allelic profiles.
authors.affiliation: Vascular Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114.
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: H'Doubler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shek
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Auchincloss
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Abbott
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Orkin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001789:Blood Group Antigens / Q000235:genetics; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000235:genetics; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR / Q000235:genetics*; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY / Q000235:genetics*; D016038:Skin Transplantation / Q000276:immunology; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001789:Blood Group Antigens; D007527:Isoenzymes