Louis W J, Howes L G
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Unit, University of Melbourne, Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1990;16 Suppl 7:S1-5.
The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is the most commonly used animal model of hypertension. For many years, it has been widely accepted that the most appropriate control strain is the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat to which SHR rats are genetically related. However, recent concerns have been raised about genetic differences between the various colonies of SHRs and, in particular, genetic differences between colonies of WKY rats. It has been further emphasized that the only way to establish that a genetic trait is an etiological factor in the development of hypertension is through studies of F2 backcrosses between SHR and WKY rats. The present article details the history of the SHR and WKY strains and demonstrates why there is high likelihood of genetic variability between rats of both strains from different colonies around the world. It suggests that the WKY strain is not the most suitable for backcross studies because of the incidence of spontaneous hypertension and the somewhat higher levels of blood pressure in these rats. A central reference strain is proposed using SHRs inbred at Kyoto University, where brother/sister inbreeding has continued for more than 80 generations.
自发性高血压大鼠（SHR）是最常用的高血压动物模型。多年来，人们普遍认为最合适的对照品系是与SHR大鼠有遗传关系的Wistar-Kyoto（WKY）大鼠。然而，最近人们对不同SHR群体之间的遗传差异，特别是WKY大鼠群体之间的遗传差异提出了担忧。进一步强调的是，确定遗传性状是高血压发病的病因因素的唯一方法是通过对SHR和WKY大鼠之间的F2回交进行研究。本文详细介绍了SHR和WKY品系的历史，并说明了为什么来自世界各地不同群体的这两种品系的大鼠之间很可能存在遗传变异性。研究表明，由于这些大鼠存在自发性高血压的发生率以及血压水平略高的情况，WKY品系不太适合用于回交研究。建议使用京都大学培育的近交SHR作为核心对照品系，该校的兄妹近交已经持续了80多代。
