Stress ulcer in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats.
Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and their normotensive progenitors, the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats, were tested in the open-field arena and subsequently exposed to either cold-restraint stress or activity-stress. SHR rats were more active and judged less fearful in the open-field test. Changes in core body temperature, and adrenal and thymus weights did not differentiate between SHR and WKY rats in the cold-restraint procedure. A significant adrenal hypertrophy was observed for SHR rats in the activity-stress procedure. WKY rats were more susceptible to stress ulcer in both the cold-restraint and the activity-stress procedures. While running-wheel activity had been considered an important etiological variable for activity-stress ulcer, the lower activity demonstrated by the ulcer-prone WKY rats suggested that genetic variables might be more relevant to stress ulcer disease.
D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D003080:Cold Temperature; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR; D011921:Rats, Inbred WKY; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D013045:Species Specificity; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000209:etiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology