Temperature regulation in biotelemetered spontaneously hypertensive rats

Abstract

Core temperature of the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) was not found to be different from the core temperature of the control rat, the Wistar-Kyoto rat (WKY), when the rats were left undisturbed in their home cages. When the rats were exposed to a variety of stressful environments, including cage switching, exposure to an open field, and handling, both SHR and WKY rats showed an increase in temperature. For the set of rats supplied by Charles River, the SHR temperature response to the stress was identical to the WKY rats' temperature response. For the set of rats supplied by Taconic Farms, the SHR was found to have a greater temperature response to the acute stress and the open-field stress. The Taconic Farms rats were also exposed to restraint stress, which resulted in a rise in temperature that was greater for the SHR when compared with the WKY. Because we have observed the increased lability in body temperature of the SHR compared with the WKY rats during restraint, we believe that it is important that studies with these strains of rat be done using minimal or no restraint.