Stress ulcer susceptibility and depression in Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats.
In a series of studies, Wistar Kyoto (WKY) normotensive rats were more susceptible to water-restraint-induced stress ulcer as compared to spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) Fisher-344 (F344) and Wistar rats. In these same studies, WKY rats were also deficient in several behavioral tasks. The four strains were observed in the open-field test of emotionality and WKYs were judged more emotional. In a study on "learned helplessness" WKYs were more deficient in the acquisition of a shuttlebox escape response following unavoidable shock the day before. The prevalence of freezing behavior in the shuttlebox task and the low ambulation scores in the open-field test suggested depressive behavior as a WKY behavior characteristic. WKY rats were judged more depressed in the Porsolt forced-swim test as compared to the other strains. A possible depression-ulcer relationship may exist in WKY rats. This strain may represent a good model for studying possible relationships between depression and stress-induced disease.
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Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Perry Point, MD 21902.
D000818:Animals; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000209:etiology*; D051381:Rats; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D013045:Species Specificity; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology*